It's definitely spring, as I have come to understand it in the South. The camellias and daffodils are done, the azaleas, citrus, and Carolina jessamine are blooming, but we have one more frost/freeze coming Wednesday night. We will cover the fig tree and pile all the potted plants, including the citrus which is as tall as I am, into the sunroom and hope for the best.
Spring means the outdoor festivals have started, with some surprising attractions. This oyster festival had a Kissing Booth. You can keep the oysters, but the Kissing Booth, manned by twin Schnauzers very eager to oblige, was adorable.
Yesterday was a neighborhood cleanup day. South Carolina is the most littered state I've ever traveled through and Georgetown is no exception. Living in Minnesota I was used to an almost complete lack of litter, and the toss-it-from-the-window approach for disposal really baffles me. Would you throw your garbage on the floor in your home? Why is it so hard to drop it in a receptacle? I don't get it.
Anyway, we were assigned two city blocks in a residential area and this is what it looked like when we started. 
I'll tell you, it was back breaking work. We developed a system: I pulled it out of the slight ditch and tossed it up on the roadside, The Writer picked it up again and bagged it. It took us two hours to complete the two blocks on one side of the road!
I'm sitting in the sunroom reading, watching the birds at the feeder and a pair of bluebirds checking out the bluebird house (they did the same thing last year but moved on; this year maybe they'll stay!). Would you like to know what I'm reading? Bringing Home the Dharma by Jack Kornfield, Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett, and Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng (and yes, I can read three books at once!).
I'll tell you, it was back breaking work. We developed a system: I pulled it out of the slight ditch and tossed it up on the roadside, The Writer picked it up again and bagged it. It took us two hours to complete the two blocks on one side of the road!
Well, that's enough about that. Look at these!
Its azalea time! And the citrus scent is dizzying!
I'm sitting in the sunroom reading, watching the birds at the feeder and a pair of bluebirds checking out the bluebird house (they did the same thing last year but moved on; this year maybe they'll stay!). Would you like to know what I'm reading? Bringing Home the Dharma by Jack Kornfield, Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett, and Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng (and yes, I can read three books at once!). I hope you are enjoying your Sunday, too.
wow have a great and healthy spring
ReplyDeleteI applaud you for doing this clean up work, If it really is too bad that it is necessary. The sad thing is that before you know it the situation will be back to what it was. I think we should have a litter aversion course in school - right from the earliest grades. One of the things that really bugs me is to see a smoker calmly dump all his butts from the car ash try onto the road while he is waiting at a stop sign. Grrrr!
ReplyDeleteGood for you! I agree with David about the cigarette butts. What are they thinking anyway? I've seen people toss things right out of the car window. What are they thinking? You are wonderful to do this clean up.
ReplyDeleteI'm enjoying this Sunday also just reading blogs. I don't get to do this very often.
The azaleas blooming can only mean to me one thing - AUGUSTA!
ReplyDeleteIs Paul off again? Must be time for Jason Day, Adam Scott or Paul Leishman to
get that jacket.
Thankfully here in Australia we have heaps of rubbish bins in streets and malls for
rubbish dumping but what really gets my goat is a person eating or smoking next to one
and then they dump their rubbish on the ground as they walk off - I SEE RED!
Autumn here now.........weather is still really summery.
Cheers
Colin
In terms of litter I associate it in North American as being associated with latitude....
ReplyDeleteAh yes. My time will come. Blooms should appear here in early May. well there may be a few dandelions before that.
ReplyDeleteYou have some beautiful blooms! Good for you helping with the clean up! Those are some messy looking ditches...yes we up here in Minnesota use trash cans:)
ReplyDeleteSpring has indeed sprung over your way.
ReplyDeleteWhat a pity people can't take their rubbish home with them. Great community you have there with everyone being proactive to clean up the neighbourhood. I only read one book at a time, By coincidence I am also reading a Ken Follett book - Whiteout.
ReplyDeleteOh Cynthia, I stay so angry about the trash along the roadsides out here where we live. It is unbelievable! Poppy and I have picked up nine big black garbage bags full, in one day, just on the road we live on. The family responsible for most of that littering finally moved on, but it's that way on all the country roads in this part of the country. Your flowers are so pretty! Our azaleas have buds but no blooms yet. Hope this cold weather doesn't hurt them.
ReplyDeleteThat trash becomes a problem here too. Our generation had learned our kids not to throw things on the street. But the current generation has no limits it seems. They throw everything on the street! Reading three books together, you are a genius!
ReplyDeleteDear Cynthia, you mentioned covering the fig tree in your yard. Does it give fruit? I ask because figs are one of my favorite snacks. In fact, as I'm sitting here typing, I stop periodically to reach to the plate on the computer table and pick up a piece of buttered toast spread with fig jam! Yummy!
ReplyDeleteYou're right about Minnesota. I lived there 38 years and the litter did seem so much less than here in Missouri. Like you, I find it hard to understand.
As to reading three books at one time, my mind tends to narrow to tunnel vision and I absorb them one at a time! I envy your ability to multitask! Peace.
I hope your plants survived the frost blast. If good karma is anything to go by, after all your neighbourhood clean ups they will be blooming lovely for you! I'd line up for that kissing booth!
ReplyDeleteWren x
Well one for cleaning up. it is a shame that some people are not trained
ReplyDelete