Opening day of baseball season

I have been a baseball fan since I was nine–years old. Like most baseball fans, one of the signs of spring is the first day of baseball season. Today is the first day of the season for many baseball teams. This year, the season actually opened in Japan last Tuesday when the Boston Red Sox played the Oakland Athletics for two games in Japan. Last night, in what was called the US opening day, the Washington Nationals hosted the Atlantic Braves in the opening of their new stadium in Washington D.C.

The Yankees home opener is this afternoon. As I write this, the game is in a rain delay. Perhaps they will get the game in today. Perhaps they will postpone the game and play it tomorrow afternoon instead. If so, that won’t be the first time. There is often a “free day” after a home opener in case of a rain out. A few years ago it snowed on opening day, only a couple of inches, and it had melted by the next day. I don’t think snow will be an issue, at least not in New York City.

I love the start of baseball season, not only for the promise of warmer weather, but because of hope. All the teams start out equal. There are no winners and losers on opening day. As April grows older and the teams work out the various kinks that always arise in those early games, the teams are no longer on a level playing field. There are winners and losers, but April baseball, is well April baseball. A bad start in April can be over come buy a few good series.

Not all teams can be “winners” or “in contention” for a playoff berth. If the team you are following seems to fall into this category, there is still plenty to enjoy. Most important, the season is not over until the last game is played the last weekend in September. So, if your team can stay competitive or has a “turnaround” in mid–season, there is hope.

And if you are reasonably certain that your team still has a way to go to be competitive in their division, what do you do? Can you enjoy the game? You can, you take pleasure in small things such as watching the young players develop, a well pitched game, rooting for your top hitters, and being a spoiler. Then there is finding humor, in well, being bad.

But I am getting way ahead of myself. Today, many teams are playing there first game, and there are no winners or losers.

Here today, gone tomorrow

I looked for the small blue “glory-in-the-snow” flowers yesterday morning after breakfast. I could not find them anywhere in my garden. At first, I thought that being up and out of the house before having my daily dose of java was affecting my eyesight. I looked around again, more carefully this time. I finally found the chewed off stalks. Someone had dined on them the night before. Perhaps the small group of Deer I saw running across the street about 9 PM Thursday night as I was pulling into my driveway had a snack? Or the also abundant rabbits having an early spring meal?

As I write this, the thoughts going through my head is to appreciate the small things when we see them. Thursday, I rejoiced in seeing the small beautiful blue flowers of the “glory-in-the-snow” flowers. They were not there on Wednesday and they were gone tomorrow. If I had not been paying attention on Thursday, I would have missed them altogether. The flowers are gone, but the bulbs are still there and will bloom again next spring. The beauty of their early spring blooms lives on through my writing and in my memory.

Here today, gone tomorrow.

First spring flowers

Yesterday we had a nice early spring day; temperatures were slightly above normal in the upper 50s here in central NJ. I took advantage of the slightly warmer temperatures and did some more work outside. So, as I was picking up more detritus in my yard, I looked at the garden near where I was working and saw that the crocus are almost ready to flower. I don’t think that it will be long now. In this garden bed, the deep purple crocus are the first to bloom, followed by the daffodils.


Then just an hour or so ago, I looked out my back window onto the garden next to our driveway and saw some more early spring flowers, chionodoxa luciliae or “glory–of–the–snow”. These bulbs with small blue flowers are also early spring bloomers. I have some more daffodils that I planted in this bed a couple of years ago along with some daffodils that were here when we arrived.

I was never much of a gardener before we moved here. We inherited some of the flowers in our gardens from the prior owners and I have planted others. Some of the shrubs that I planted did not make it. Most of the perennials and bulbs have done ok. I planted a rhododendron eighteen months ago in the front of my house that I hope will make it. Last year it had one beautiful flower. I covered it and the young holly with burlap to protect them from the cold winter winds. The young rhody has many more buds this year and I have my fingers crossed.

I am not going to win any gardening awards, but I do find peace and solace working outside in the garden. However, I am proud of the garden bed where I planted the crocus bulbs. I had to find shade loving plants that would survive the toxins from the nearby Black Walnut tree and are deer resistant. In addition to the bulbs and the existing azaleas and the peony I planted: an ornamental grass, ferns, pulmanaria, fox glove, and something else I don’t remember.

So as I wait for the deciduous trees to leaf out, I rejoice in the hope that these early spring flowers represent, the promise of more bursting forth to come.

signs of spring

At 1:48 AM EDT, the sun crossed the celestial equator. This is the vernal equinox or the start of the spring season here in the northern hemisphere. I always enjoy early spring as new plant growth is getting ready to burst forth. The daffodils started to peak above the soil a couple of weeks ago and are now a anywheres from three to six inches high. The buds have not opened yet, it is still a might cold for that. Perhaps in a couple of weeks, less or more depending on the temperatures, I will see the first flowering daffodils.

Another sign of spring is seeing some deciduous trees just beginning to leaf out. I noticed the very, very tiny leaves on a maple tree in my yard this morning as I was cleaning up detritus in the form of twigs and larger branches that came down in rain and wind storms in early March. I took a break from gathering these sticks to look at up at the maple and saw tiny reddish leaf buds.

My task this morning is another rite of early spring here in the land of manicured lawns: spring clean-up, picking up branches before the lawn mowing season starts.

During these times of economic unrest and global warming, I take comfort in the signs of new life that emerge every spring. The new life emerging every spring is an extraordinary event. I pray that in my small way that I may be a better steward of my planet for future generations.

Lunar Eclipse

A couple of weeks ago the Moon put on a spectacular show in the form of a lunar eclipse. A lunar eclipse happens when the Moon is full, that is when the Earth passes between the Sun and the Moon. During most full Moons, the moon is either above or below the Earth’s shadow. But a couple of times a year, the moon passes directly through the Earth’s shadow. Two weeks ago, we were treated to total lunar eclipse at 10:25 PM EST in the east coast of the United States. It had been raining earlier in the afternoon and evening, and there was a chance that it would still be too cloudy to see the Moon. However, the clouds began to break just in time, so we could see the Moon as at began to pass through the Earth’s shadow at about 8:45 PM. I was a little tired that night, but knowing that the next total lunar eclipse visible on the east coast of the U.S. will not happen until 2010, I made a point of staying up. It was worth it.

During a total lunar eclipse, the Moon is still visible, but it turns a reddish color. It was not the most spectacular lunar eclipse that we saw, but it was very cool just the same. Gazing at this total lunar eclipse, I was reminded about the wonder and beauty of nature. I am glad that I stayed up to see this lunar eclipse. Something truly extraordinary that reminded me, yet again, about how special the Moon is.