The Emerald Explosion

Posted

Originally written for the Quilcene Community Center's May newsletter; spring isn't centered in Quilcene, but we have to be near ground zero.

You can almost hear it; the emerald explosion, the sudden burst of greenness. Spring is attacking. If you look anywhere around Quilcene, fields, forests, yards, it is like time lapse photography. Grass (and weeds) grow inches, it seems, in hours. Flowers push back the soil faster than gophers. You could pass bare trees as you drive on 101 or Center Road; find blooms and leaves on the way back. You might suddenly remember just what a lovely spot we live in; even if it’s drizzling.

The various shades of green are staggering; almost day-glo pale to almost black; evergreen rockets and emerald fireworks; tangles of bushes and ferns and… (did I mention?) weeds.

Yeah, yeah; SPRINGTIME is almost overwhelming. It’s time to try to fire up the old lawnmower. It’s time to empty out the recycling and stuff that you moved (temporarily) from the house mid-winter; time to reclaim your garden shed. And, did I mention, weeds?

RECYCLING: I know it’s some sort of duty, civic or otherwise, to recycle. It must be; since a certain amount of guilt can be felt by just tossing that container, bottle, box from Amazon into the trash.

No, break down those boxes, separate the lids (non-recyclable) from the milk containers, stick the cereal box inside the bigger box, move the bulky results to the garden shed; temporarily.  

It doesn’t make economic or ecological sense to make too many trips to the sometimes-open transfer facility, car engine idling; only to sort and deposit a few items. No, but if you make one fully-packed-in trip to the transfer station and still can’t find your weed whacker… well, now’s the time. Spring.

THE GARDEN SHED: I may have to get rid of the piece of exercise equipment someone gave us; (another) one we don’t have room for, never seemed to use; and besides, we had to make room in the house for the other exercise devices that we also don’t seem to use. THEN, if I get rid of or move (or give away) some of the other things that it just seemed easy to store (temporarily) in the shed, maybe…maybe I’ll also find the good clippers and my chop saw, and… well; we’ll just have to see.

GAS OPERATED LAWN EQUIPMENT: No, they never start the first time. UNLESS, I’ve been told (pretty much each spring when mine won’t start) that if I only use the alcohol-free gasoline, AVAILABLE LOCALLY, I won’t have the problems of sticking needle valves and floats, and/or whatever demons and curses keep things from starting without the operator forced to get shoulder surgery.

WEEDS: Yeah, a garden is nice, flowers, homegrown veggies; but this time of year, though some of the flowers are out, bending in the rain, rising up in the sun; the weeds are insidious. Yeah, we love a garden, love to get our fingers into that soil, yanking and pulling and… ROCKS; I should mention rocks. The remains of the ancient fjords, from potato to pumpkin size; they’re everywhere.

HEY, it’s SPRING; get out there. OKAY, maybe after the drizzle dissipates. Did I mention DRIZZLE?