Happy First Day of Spring! (Finally!)
“As is” in this photo. Don’s books, headphones, charger, various coasters – all on the coffee table. You might notice that Don’s vintage camera is now on the lower shelf of the blue table. I finally managed to persuade him to move it from its longtime home on the red-checked chair. That chair is one of my favorites (a $50 steal way back when we lived in San Diego) and I miss having the option to sit there. It was as if we had a constant guest sitting in that chair: “The Camera Who Came to Dinner.”
Speaking of the camera, Don will soon be able to get back outside taking his Polaroid Portraits. It’s been a long stretch of no picture taking and I know he misses it. He’s already signed up for the weekly Farmer’s Market (he’s been very successful there.) Don’s a social guy – much more so than me – and he loves meeting people and taking their pictures. Can’t wait to seem him work his magic once again.
Yesterday, I spotted some day lilies emerging from the ground in the garden bed right outside the living room. I’m sure there are a lot more around the various garden beds, but they’re covered in leaves and I won’t uncover them until we are past nighttime freezes. And we aren’t. Sometime next month.
We watched two documentaries this week: Won’t You Be My Neighbor? about Fred Rogers, and the other, Free Solo, about a guy who climbed Ed Capitan in Yosemite without ropes – just with his two feet and his hands. Both were wonderful. Won’t You Be My Neighbor? brought tears to our eyes. What an extraordinary man he was with such a kind, compassionate, and giving heart. And Free Solo was a terrific portrait of a man driven to climb. There were moments when I had to cover my eyes, but boy, was it powerful. Both of the docs are on the On Demand channel on our cable – and they’re free. Free Solo won the Academy Award for Best Documentary this year.
Today’s weather is going to be in the 50s and I’m going to open the windows and the front door, because Thursday and Friday are going to bring a lot of rain.
Enjoy this first day of Spring, my friends.
Happy Wednesday.
We won’t have flowers here for quite some time. but the sun is shining here today too and I can hear the sound of small voices traipsing past the office door on some field trip or another. I watched the Mr. Rogers documentary sometime ago and was quite taken aback at the forcefulness of his advocacy for early education. Anyone contemplating cutting back on education funding should watch it first.. Enjoy your day!
I agree, Barbara! Thank you,
I loved the Fred Rogers documentary. I remember when my kidlets were little, Mr. Rogers came on right after Sesame St. which we usually watched while we ate lunch. SS is fun and loud and we sang and laughed. When Mr. R came on, I could feel the calmness come over the room. And then it was nap time. Not sure if PBS did that on purpose, but it sure worked at our house!!!
Happy 1st day of Spring to everyone. It is also our daughter’s birthday, so a special day every year for us! We have a bit of sun this morning but some showers to move in this aft. I would guess that about 90% of the snow is gone. yay!!
Hope you have a great day!!
We had the exact same routine when my kids were little. Worked like a charm! ;)
Wonder if just the Madison stations did it that way, or if that was set up nationally. It really was brilliant the way they calmed down!!
I don’t know how it was nationally. But, that lineup was brilliant. Even after my kids were “too old” for naps…Mr. Rogers was a good lead into quiet time. I really enjoyed quiet time…lol! ;)
We sort of missed out on him. We were in high school when his show premiered and neither of us had kids – I saw it occasionally when with my niece and nephews.
Happy Birthday to your daughter!
You know, I honestly didn’t think Spring would ever come. Now, let’s hope it stays. I spotted my iris’ popping up. Everything else is covered up…so like you, I won’t disturb them til it warms up.
It’s been fun to watch the snow and ice melt. We have just a few places with northern exposures left. Almost time to get out there and do some early pruning. Hope you enjoy this first day of Spring! ;)
We have a few left over snow piles, but not many!
Every thing is in bloom now and so are my allergies. Ugh! Still it is so pretty I’ll just suffer a bit for it. I watched the Mr Rogers documentary and it just made me love him even more then I already did. I’ll try to watch the other documentary as it sounds good but I bet I too will have to shut my eyes some. I’ve not been reading much as I really need my new glasses (they should come this week) as my eyesight has really changed. I’m now having to provide more care for my Mom and it’s hard. I’ll hire help if I need too and since we can. I’d like to maintain as much of my health as I can through all of this. oh enough whining. Hugs to you and Don.
Thinking of you, Linda. Sending you a big hug, my friend. xo
Within the last year, I saw a PBS special about Mr. Rogers. Is the documentary you’re writing about the same, Claudia? I really admire Mr. Rogers. What a kind gentle soul.
First day of spring brought back heavy rains. But, I heard that California is finally out of drought. We’ll see for how long…
I don’t know if it’s the same one, Wendy. But it’s excellent!
Snow is still slowly melting revealing more and more of the backyard garden. Getting excited about getting out there and digging in the dirt.
I cried during the Fred Rogers documentary (I cried at the one PBS has been showing too). Our oldest absolutely adored him. Chris began watching when he was 2 and I was busy with his newborn brother. Yes, I used Fred Rogers as a babysitter. When his pre-K teacher talked about how gentle Chris was, unlike the other little boys, when playing with girls, I credited Fred Rogers’ influence. My boss at the university where I retired loved to tell about being Fred’s escort the weekend he came to town to receive an honorary degree. For a long time afterwards, Fred would call him to just say “hi.” To this day he’s kept a voicemail recording from one of those calls when they were out of town. On it Mr. Rogers says he was just calling to see how and then proceeds to name my boss’ wife and each one of their 5 daughters. And this was more than a year later. He was indeed an exceptionally kind, decent human being,
What a lovely story – none of it surprises me – just confirms what an extraordinary man he was. Thank you so much for sharing it with us.
Ah! Happy Spring, Claudia!!! It has finally arrived. I can’t wait to see all of the lovely flowers you will be planting very soon (those gorgeous flower pots you found last year are going to be so pretty!)
I haven’t seen Free Solo, but adored Won’t You Be My Neighbor. We saw it twice in the theatre when it came out last year and I have seen it a couple of times since! Mister Rogers was a very, very special person and I am so thankful they created the documentary to remind us all what a treasure he is.
I pre-ordered A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, The Poetry of Mister Rogers and it arrived yesterday…b e a u t i f u l book! The illustrations by Luke Flowers are charming. Today also happens to be Mister Rogers birthday. He would have been 91 years old. I shared a story on my instagram today featuring the new book of poetry :) Enjoy this new season…I am looking forward to seeing Don’s polaroids again!
I didn’t know there was a book of his poetry! Thanks for letting me know.
And Happy Birthday, Mister Rogers! We miss you.
El Capitain is in Yosemite, not Yellowstone.
Yep. Just a typing error. I’ve corrected it.
Nothing else to say but that? Have you seen the documentary?
No, but have read many comments on it. Sounds good!
It is, Barb. Very well done and riveting! xo
I haven’t seen the Fred Rogers documentary yet but I would love to see it…I will search around my Fire TV for it!
Happy Spring to all!
Apparently, there’s another documentary about him on PBS, as well.
glad you got your chair back. :)
both documentaries sound wonderful, especially the one about mr. rogers.
i tried a little rappelling in my younger years, definitely with ropes and always with someone to belay. that and skydiving (four times with a static line, not tandem) to try to get over feeling kind of anxious about heights. helped a lot, but i know if i can see the “free solo” documentary that i will have to close my eyes to some of it. cannot imagine doing that stuff just with muscle and chalk. no way.
glad you and don will soon be able to do things you enjoy outside – gardening and street photography. glad i will soon be able to walk/run outside without worry about ice. and i will be able to do that for more than 15 minutes after work (and open up some windows) because it’s warmer and staying lighter out much later … hooray!
happy thursday to all.
kathy in iowa
Well, you’re much more daring than I am. I’m afraid of heights and I wouldn’t touch either of those activities!
Isn’t it nice to be able to go outside and not worry about ice and snow and cold, cold weather?
Won’t You Be My Neighbor was my favorite movie of 2018, doc or otherwise (and IMO, Oscar’s biggest snub.) And Free Solo a breathtaking surprise.
I can’t believe it wasn’t nominated. But then again, I can. There are ridiculous snubs every year.