Roaring March

The month of March arrived just as the old saying goes, “in like a lion” only it waited until the 2nd day of the month to turn into the lion. The forecast had predicted high winds with a chances of rain for early that evening. Our local energy company had warned of wind related outages and suggested that outdoor objects be secured. Folks that live here know that the weather forecasts need to be taken seriously but also know the forecast may or may not work out as predicted. The weather is subject to change.

I had checked the radar several times and knew it was a comin’. What I didn’t know that it was a comin’ fast and furious! The wind hit just as I opened the back glass door to let two of the dogs go out and I had the thought that a tornado or some kind of wind shear was taking place! I quickly called the dogs back in for fear of falling tree limbs and flying projectiles, but I was intrigued by the strength of the wind and the swaying of the trees (like I’ve never seen high wind before) and proceeded to go from door to door and back again trying to see what was happening in the dark. I actually went out the front door for a quick glimpse and realized the decorative magnetic cover on my mailbox was in my neighbors’ yard, so I did brave the wind to retrieve it.

As I darted back to the porch with the mailbox cover, I noticed one dead branch in the front yard that had already fallen and numerous other large sticks were scattered about. It sounded like a hail storm as sticks hit the roof and deck and I was even more eager to see what was happening. I do love weather!

I was keeping a close watch on the radar, too, and thought the rain had gone north of us when the thunder began to rumble. A large red area on the radar suddenly popped up and went swiftly over our area with a tremendous, but short lived torrential rain. Sadly, we needed the rain so badly and it went over so fast that there was little if any accumulation and the ground barely wet. Still, I was thankful for the lightening which provided free fertilizer to the yard and for no wind damage. Many people had power outages and fallen tree damage; I felt thankful for just a lot of clean up to do!

The next morning dawned clear and beautiful, although still very windy for most of the day. The storm had cleared out all the unhealthy junk that had been hanging in the air over the city for weeks, making the blue of the sky almost sparkle. The storm had howled in, moved through quickly, and left the air refreshingly clean!

I tackled cleaning up the yard and gathered several flower pots and buckets with a nice supply of chiminea sticks. A carpet of leaves covered the deck and most of the yard and would need raking and sweeping up when dry. I had several errands I needed to run and it was just too pretty to stay home and cleaning up the yard could be managed later, so off I went.

Errands, a little treasure hunting, and after taking my groceries home, off again for Mexican food. Then I wandered down to a local garden center since I had had flowers on my mind since I woke up that morning.

When I saw all these herbs sitting in their sunny spot I was reminded that I had lost everything except the dill and a peppermint plant during our December freeze and low wind chill temperatures. My first selections were basil and rosemary, limiting myself to just a few things on this trip. They had beautiful cilantro, but I left it there because it really is too late in its growing season and I wanted to focus on summer herbs.

And the flowers, oh so many flowers and patio plants. I reminded myself that everything I buy now has to be watered daily during the long months of summer heat and that I had committed to only buying a few plants at a time to focus on only what I needed. I wandered around the grounds, enjoying making the most of the time there and finally picked out two marigolds, one begonia, and one petunia with striking fuchsia-purple and white blooms. Six plants altogether, but I was excited to be bringing this small tray home with me to kick off the spring planting season!

March has arrived!