FRUHLINGSRAUSCHEN

I post this video every year at the arrival of spring. You're probably tired of seeing it - - but just pretend that you're delighted. 

Fruhlingsrauschen

Rustle of Spring, op.32 no.3 by Norwegian composer Christian Sinding (1856 - 1941).

I recorded this video in San Angelo, Texas during a brutally hot summer when the temperature was over 110 degrees (Fahrenheit). Apologies for the terrible audio quality.

Today, here in rural Tennessee, the weather is freezing and spring is nowhere in sight. The temperature dropped to 13 degrees (Fahrenheit) last night with heavy frost.

Warmer temperatures are predicted by the end of this week
Should I try to believe it??

Wherever you are - - - welcome to spring!

 

SPRING, WHERE ARE YOU ???

 

I've said this many times before, but I'll say it again:
If I ever knew Tennessee had six month winters with ice floes and penguins I would never ever moved here.

It's two days before the arrival of spring and I'm entombed in Arctic temperatures and freezing my tootsies off. My house is more frigid than a polar bear's hug (I just made that up) and I'm presently (desperately) trying to repair three (yes, three) water pipes that were frozen and damaged during the last blizzard.

This is beyond endurance.
(ironically, The Endurance was the name of Shackleton's ship).
I'm unbearably amusing even when I'm at the point of a nervous breakdown and impending extinction.

15 degrees (Fahrenheit) tomorrow night

Despite the absolute absence of spring and warmth, I'm (rather reluctantly) posting my Ode to Spring video - - in which I perform Mendelssohn with enhancing visuals of spring.

I have no doubt that this will charm you into oblivion.

                                                  Jon

                                                  freezing

video best viewed full-screen

IN CONSIDERATION OF WINTER AND SPRING

I hate hot weather. I loathe tropical climates. Places that have an absence of four seasons are immensely depressing.

I lived in Southern California for thirty years. I existed in West Texas for more years than I care to remember. Neither place had distinct seasonal changes. The bland sameness all year long is detrimental to the soul.

Why am I writing this? I have no clue. I'm merely thinking out loud after ingesting an invigorating amount of homemade wine.

This year I was glad to see winter vanish and spring arrive. As much as I prefer cold weather, winter is no delight when one (meaning myself) is existing in rural poverty. 

Winter is absolutely wonderful when you're safely ensconced in your cozy, well-insulated house, watching the snowy landscape through the double-pane glass storm windows. Winter is a delight when your state-of-the-art furnace is blasting and you're bundled up in your $1,500 recliner, sipping a piping hot beverage, and deciding what you'll watch next on Netflix.

Winter is absolute hell when you're all alone in the wilderness, surrounded by isolated woods and hungry packs of coyotes - - in a flimsy, un-insulated house with paper-thin windows and leaky doors.

Winter is devastating when the dampness in your house is so intense, that the clothes hanging in your closets are actually wet - - when the furnace isn't working and there are no funds to get a new one, when you're shivering so hard inside the house that your fingers are completely numb and your breath comes out in frosty white puffs.

Winter is a bitch when you have to stay up all night, carefully monitoring the water pipes to make sure they don't freeze - - - when you run low on supplies and have to drive untold miles to town on a narrow, winding, icy mountain road in a car that is nearly falling apart......when you finally bring home a loaf of bread and have to hide it in the refrigerator so the mice won't get it.

Have you ever had to hand-wash clothes in ice cold water, and then hang them outside to dry when the temperature is 15 degrees (Fahrenheit)? Don't even think about it........

Yes, dear comrades, I'm absolutely delighted that winter has finally left and spring lingers invitingly before us.
In a few weeks I might actually begin to warm up........

Oh, one more thing before I depart:

Many thanks to the two kind people who read my previous blog post. It's comforting to know that at least someone is there and thinking about me.

When you get more spam on your blog than comments, it's time to worry......and perhaps give up.

Cheers, Jon

No photos this time. I really don't care....

 

ROUGH ROAD AHEAD

 

Spring is only about ten days away (I've been counting the hours, minutes, seconds).

Last week the sun actually defied the winter gloom and made a rare appearance. The temperature soared to 70 degrees (Fahrenheit). I was ecstatic - - foolishly believing that spring was arriving early. It felt so warm that I removed the winter blankets from my bed and opened the windows.

Imagine my shock and dismay when I saw the current weather forecast:
3 to 6 inches of snow tomorrow (Friday) night......and by Saturday night the temperature will plummet to 9 (nine!) degrees.

Winter is thumbing his nose at me and refusing to leave.

Fortunately, I ordered a lot of much-needed supplies online earlier this week and they will be delivered tomorrow (Friday)......before the snow arrives.

I honestly don't think the snow will be a big deal. It will probably melt in a few days (hopefully), but the fact that this Arctic blast is happening so close to spring is disheartening.

I haven't yet had time to try out my new electric keyboard (see previous post) but hopefully will soon. Things are chaotic around my rustic abode (which means I'm having a helluva lot of problems)
and I haven't been feeling well (which means I'm nearly at death's door).

Anyway, I hope things are snow-less wherever you are.
And I hope upcoming spring will expunge all the unpleasant remnants of winter.

                                             Cheers, Jon

RAIN-DRENCHED WEEKEND

First day of Passover.
No, I'm not Jewish - but the Passover season has a special personal meaning for me. No need to elaborate.

Erratic weather. March (much like my life) has been filled with major inconsistencies. Storms and a Tornado Watch last Thursday night.
Friday was sunny, mild, and 70 degrees (Fahrenheit, for those of you in Mozambique).

Today (Saturday) was chilly (in the 50s) and perpetually stormy. Thunder and heavy rain all day. One brief power outage. Thank goodness it was brief. I have dinner in the slow cooker. 

Warm, sunny thoughts of Easter and spring - - mingled with dark, stormy personal worries. My mind is annoyingly contradictory....like the weather.

Photos to ponder

 I noticed yesterday (Friday, the mild day) that some of the trees are beginning to blossom.  That would be wonderful news, but the blossoms in my neck of the woods are ALWAYS killed by late frosts. Happens every year.

 A view from my front porch. Those hills over yonder will be completely obscured once the trees get their leaves. In the summer you'd never know the hills were there.

Kitzee and Bosco yesterday on the back porch, savoring the 70 degree weather.

Kitzee (left) will be sixteen yrs. old this summer. Bosco will be seven in April.

Today my mystical back yard is drenched in fog and rain. A stark contrast from yesterday.

ODE TO SPRING

 

 These erratic changes in temperature have impeded my enthusiasm for the upcoming first day of spring.. It's 70 degrees one day (Fahrenheit) and 40 the next. Frost is predicted for tonight.
I can't handle radical temperature fluctuations.

Today was very chilly and windy and I was tempted to crawl into bed and hibernate.
Instead, I forced myself to think sunny thoughts and made a springtime video. 

It's very short - just a minute and a half - but I tried to incorporate some glimpses of spring: flowers, chicks, bunnies...
The music is by Mendelssohn, piano interpretation by me.

If that isn't enough to infuse springtime warmth into your heart, I'm also offering my performance of Rustle of Spring by Christian Sinding (1856 - 1941).

 

 

I've posted this video several previous times, but just pretend like you haven't seen it and try to feign admiration and astonishment. I recorded this in Texas during the summer when it was 110 degrees.
(the audio is loud on this, you'll have to tone it down)

Welcome to spring!

Videos best viewed full-screen

RESURGENCE

Will I be fortunate enough to find toilet paper the next time I go shopping in town?
I seriously doubt it.
Methinks this mass buying/hoarding hysteria is going to last for a very long time.

People panic easily, most especially when they're relentlessly manipulated. The news media has done its best to terrify everyone and cause a tsunami of alarm.

There's a reason why I've been referring to the news media as a dangerous epidemic.
There's a reason why I've been encouraging you to remain rational and rely on your God-given intuition.

Sure, the Coronavirus is very real. It can be deadly. We should be warned and advised.
But this negative propaganda and eternal promotion of fear is detrimental.

End of lecture.

It was 75 degrees last Friday when I drove to town. A balmy, slightly overcast day, stirring with the first breath of spring. I wish I could have taken photos. 
Trees were blossoming, hills and valleys were green, there were sprawling fields of yellow wildflowers.

So far, the blossoms around my house are few and unimpressive. My biggest fear happens every spring:
warm weather encourages trees to blossom, but late frosts inevitably kill them.
Cold weather is (unfortunately) predicted again this week.

I've been deeply depressed for a long time over my own health issues - which are much more disconcerting to me than a phantom virus. Now isn't the time to write about it.
We all endure our own private versions of hell. I know I'm not alone.....

There were more storms last night, but the foul weather vanished at dawn - and today was truly glorious.

Storms and gloom never last forever. Sunshine always returns - and with it comes hope.
Resurgence.

I felt renewed and optimistic today, thankful to be alive - happy to be immersed in the blessed rebirth of spring.

Shall I enthrall you with some photos? 

      Many of the trees are still bare, but a few timid blossoms are appearing. All of these photos were taken today (Sunday).

Facing north, toward the cow pasture

 Here's the "drive" coming up to the house where I always get stuck in the mud

 My favorite group of tall trees near the back porch

 Kitzee (also known as Scratch) showing off on the front porch.

Bosco getting excited over some birds that are building a nest 

My bedroom window in late afternoon

 This evening, photos taken from the front porch

OF MICE AND TORNADOES

Friday Night
It's after 3:00 a.m. and I'm snuggled in bed with my laptop (no sexual implications intended). I feel rotten and can't sleep, so I'm  watching a documentary about World War I. 

Just when I'm somewhere  in the midst of Gallipoli, my cat Bosco comes running in the room, making spooky squeals, and jumps on the bed. He has a big mouse in his mouth!

"Holy crap, don't bring it here!" I yell, while leaping out of bed.

Bosco leaps down with me - still clutching the rodent - and takes off for regions unknown.
I don't know what the hell happened to the mouse. 

A few years ago one of my cats left a dead mouse in bed on my pillow!

That's nothing. I have a friend whose cat left a dead bird in her bed.

There's no purpose or satisfactory resolution to this story, but I figured I'd tell it anyway. 

Change of subject

The first day of spring was nearly 75 degrees (that's Fahrenheit, for those of you in Wuhan).

I naively thought that the frigid winter weather would kill all those pesky Asian beetles that plagued us last autumn. To my consternation (and disgust), the sudden warm weather revived the beetles and they were everywhere again. 

Today (Saturday) the temperature has plummeted and it's 38 degrees. The Asian beetles.....and spring....have vanished.

An Aside:
Is it racist to call them Asian beetles? After all, I wouldn't want to offend anyone.


Yesterday (Friday) was bleak and dreary - like a monochromatic painting - with bouts of torrential rain....and several foul weather warnings.

Flash flood warning. Severe storm warning.

The tornado warning  came while I was eating an early dinner. I checked the radar on the computer and was relieved to see that the tornado was several miles south of my location and heading east.
I wouldn't be in danger unless it decided to suddenly reverse its course.

In a moment of courageous abandon, I grabbed my El Cheapo camera and  wandered outside for a brief walk. Everything was colorless and cheerless but at least no tornado was in sight.
A downpour eventually encouraged me to head back to the house, but not before I took a few extremely unimpressive photos.

 Two views of the front "yard"

(above and below)

.....and the cow meadow at the end of my property

(I know that will impress you)

I have to make the dreaded trip to town next week and I'm more than slightly apprehensive.

Let's put it this way:
During the very best conditions, shopping at Walmart scares the royal crap out of me. Most of the people who haunt the store look like they're carriers of deadly diseases - - and a few of them look like they died several weeks ago.

Hell, I don't need a surgical mask. I need a Medieval suit of armor.

WELCOME SPRING

Take a deep breath,

savor the first day of spring,

listen to the serenity

and the extraordinary logic

that resides within you.

Don't get immersed

in the collaborative epidemic 

of chaos

that is raging around us. 

Remain rational.

Stay safe. 

(technically, Friday is the first full day of spring)

SUDDENLY

At the threshold of spring, naked trees were whispering plausible rumors of blossoms.

Then came several late frosts.
Followed by torrential rains.
And I feared that blossoms would be an impossibility.

Between rain clouds, a few timid pink blossoms eventually appeared - but without any promise of impressiveness.

Then,
SUDDENLY
the sun (finally) appeared yesterday.
The temperature soared to 75 degrees
(that's Fahrenheit, for those of you in the Norwegian fjords).
And the rumor of blossoms came true!

Trees are not only sprouting blossoms, but also tender green leaves. Birds are building nests. Weeds are awakening (unfortunately).

Despite an influx of aggressive wasps and bees, I grabbed my El Cheapo digital camera and wandered out in my "yard"  yesterday afternoon.

Here is tangible evidence:

I'm often impressed by my ability to make nothing sound almost interesting

Yesterday evening, view from the front porch.

A WALK IN THE WOODS

 
I always have interesting blog posts that I intend to write - and then laziness gets in the way and I wind up doing annoyingly boring crap about the cats....or the forest.

Did I ever mention that living with three cats could drive a completely sane and rational person to insanity and thoughts of murder?

Not that I'm completely sane or rational, mind you. It was merely an inconsequential figure of speech. 

Did I ever mention that this has been the coldest April I can remember?
It's finally slightly warming up, but the next two nights are supposed to be in the 30's again (Fahrenheit).

The frigid night frosts have killed all of the beautiful pink and purple spring blossoms, but - miraculously - some of the white blossoms have survived. These are courtesy of the dogwood trees.  

After days (weeks? months??) of torrential rain, it finally cleared today and the sun actually appeared. Which is cause for celebration.

My celebratory mood was momentarily thwarted when I went outside and saw the first tick of the season.....and soon afterwards was chased back inside by a rowdy mob of angry bees.

Undaunted and admirably persistent, I grabbed my El Cheapo camera and decided to go for a brief walk in the woods.

Fortunately the woods are on my property and only a few yards from the back door. Otherwise I wouldn't survive the ordeal.

The intense joy that I get from sharing these photos with you is almost indescribable. 
I can only imagine the intense joy you get from seeing them.

Am I being a sarcastic wise guy?
Naw. Not a chance. 

 Actually, this dogwood tree is not exactly in the woods - it's right near my garage. 

Okay - here we are in the woods. It's high noon on a lovely day. All the trees are coming to life, thanks to the endless recent rain. 

 The forest is filled with the incessant warble (warble??) of birds. Robins, wrens, cardinals, bluebirds, and lots of woodpeckers. And hawks soaring high above the trees.

I saw wild turkeys in the front yard a few days ago, but they wandered away before I could get the camera.

 I like this one. The sun is right behind the tree.

A thought:

Should I copyright my photos? I was  suddenly thinking about the copyrighted stolen questions that I used on my previous blog post.

Anyway, if you use these photos for any purpose other than your own personal intense pleasure, I'll find out where you live and beat the stuffing out of you. Then I'll put an eternal Hungarian curse on you.

I might look sweet and adorable, but I'm tough.

 

BLOSSOMLESS

The spring blossoms have all perished, thanks to the recent snowfall. This area of rural Tennessee is officially blossomless.

Today the temperature has soared to 73 degrees (that's Fahrenheit, for those of you in Madagascar). It's warm and muggy and feels like June.
BUT
here comes the inevitable "but"....

freezing temperatures are predicted again by this coming weekend. That puts the kibosh on any chance of seeing spring blossoms. They can't tolerate this insane temperature fluctuation (and neither can I). I'm used to California and Texas, where April was almost summer.

So how was my Easter? Boring and painful. A grey, chilly, cheerless day.
I'm always in pain with my "bad" back, but I made the mistake of lifting some heavy things and sustained a major strain.
How major?
Major enough to make me limp, wince, and undulate like Quasimodo.

I only threw in "undulate" because I hardly ever have an opportunity to use the word.

On Sunday night I opened the window in my bedroom to get some air, and  immediately got an incredible allergy.
For the next several hours I sneezed and undulated. 
Don't attempt to visualize that.

Change of subject

For the past few weeks the readership of my blog surged, over a thousand hits for every post. I figured it was a mistake. My charm couldn't be that irresistible. Maybe.

Then I wrote the post about the cows and my readership dropped to nearly zero and has stayed that way. I'm not seeking an explanation. I'm only stating a fact.

So what's the deal with the header photo that I used? 
It's a picture of my cat Scratch eating the Easter tulips when I lived in Texas. I posted it several years ago but figured I'd use it again.

I'm starting to bore myself, which is a sure sign that I should say au revoir for now.

SPRING SONG

It has long been my tradition to attack the first day of spring with appropriate music and an interpretive dance alla Isadora Duncan.

Since I don't feel like dancing (I can hear your sighs of relief), I'll subject you to music.

Rustle of Spring by Christian Sinding seems an apt way to welcome the springtime season.  Sinding (1856 -1941) was a Norwegian composer. 
I would imagine that this composition depicts breezes rustling through treetops in restless breaths.
Who knows.....

This particular video is a shoddy rehearsal tape that I made in Texas when I was out of practice and way past my prime. 
Most of you have already seen this, but just be polite and pretend you haven't.

I should at least get kudos for successfully turning the pages....

If you don't like my music (which is a complete impossibility), you can marvel at the photos I took recently.

I took these pics from the back porch last Thursday, just after the sun came up. It was a frigid 14 degrees (Fahrenheit), very breezy, with a deep blue sky.

Actually, it's still too damn cold to be the first day of spring - - and I should probably be dancing simply to ward off a frostbite.

Warmer weather is predicted soon, but I won't hold my breath.

Keep cozy and enjoy the spring equinox.

WAITING

Two days ago I was waiting for spring. Today I'm waiting for a last kick in the ass from winter.

On Thursday (two days ago) the storm clouds finally parted, the sun appeared, and the temperature soared to 70 degrees (that's Fahrenheit, for those of you in North Korea). It was one of those rare glorious days that makes you want to drop everything and crawl out of your hibernation hole.

I dropped and crawled - - and basked in the warm sun like a lizard. The warmth was a sure promise of spring and I felt rejuvenated and almost human again.
Some of the trees at the edge of the forest were actually starting to bloom with delicate colors.

I should have known that bliss doesn't last long. Another horrendous storm ravaged Tennessee on Thursday night. By Friday the temperature was dropping rapidly. Today (which let's all assume is Saturday) it is bone-chillingly frigid....and snow is expected tonight.
Snow. With spring only a week away.
So:
After shaking my fist and cursing at the Weather Gods
I put the extra blankets back on the bed,
made some homemade potato soup,
lamented at the fact that the blossoms are dead,
and now I'm waiting for an extremely cold night (it's presently late afternoon).

While I'm sitting here with nothing to do but listen to my teeth chatter, I'll dump some photos on you.

 I took this photo from my bedroom window at dawn on Thursday morning. When the sun comes up it illuminates the neighboring mountain (okay, it's a hill - but we hillbillies call it a mountain). I can't see it in the summer, because all the leaves obscure it.

 This is the same mountain (from my bedroom window) at sunset. I took this pic Thursday evening, before the storms rolled in.
Hopefully you're not completely overwhelmed from the excitement. Few people get the privilege of seeing the view from my bedroom window....

 This morning it was bitterly cold and the feeble sun made a valiant but futile effort to emerge from the clouds (damn, I'm poetic when I least expect it).
The first photo on this post was also taken this morning.

Okay - you knew you wouldn't get away from here without seeing my cats.....

 Scruffy seldom sits long enough to be photographed. I captured her yesterday perched on my bedroom dresser next to the alpine painting.
(I suppose it's technically a chest of drawers - not a dresser. I'm in an Edwardian mode...)

 Bosco was in his very favorite spot at the foot of my bed.

 My eldest cat Scratch is eleven years old. Scruffy & Bosco are three yrs. old. When I first got them, Scratch absolutely HATED them. She growled (yes growled) all the time. Now, she has finally learned to live peacefully with them.
I took this pic of Scratch and Scruffy relaxing together a few days ago.

Scratch even lets Scruffy eat from her private personal food dish - - which is a milestone.....not to mention a miracle.
(I generally don't like to leave cat food on the floor, but with three demanding felines I gotta take liberties now & then).

I'm almost done. Wanna see my angel calendar? It's one of the few things the movers didn't lose...or steal.

 An angel for every month.
I'm not really "into" angels - - I'm more of a devil connoisseur.....but what the hell....
I had this calendar a long time. I'm trying to find a place to put it where the cats won't get it. 
Scratch never touches anything. But Scruffy and Bosco will rip it to shreds and sell the angel's wings for scrap....

Holy crap - this was a long post.
Wake me when it's spring.