If Winter comes, can Spring be far behind? Percy Bysshe Shelley

Behold, my friends, the spring is come; the earth has gladly received the embraces of the sun, and we shall soon see the results of their love!
Sitting Bull

Spring has officially sprung. How do we know this? Because these little blue flowers (can anyone ID these little flowers?) popped up all over the yard and the daffodils bloomed at my Gr-son’s house in Edgerton, Sunday. I was hoping the Magnolia Tree would bloom while I was visiting but alas it was not to be. The high Sunday was 81*! In March! In Wisconsin!

Today is the first official day of spring. After an incredibly warm and dry not to mention positively pleasant winter, we have been having the warmest transition into spring I can remember in my nearly 60 years of living. Spring has not only sprung here in Wisconsin, it is breaking all kinds of records. The forecast high today was 81*, smashing the old record of 76* set in 1911. According to The Wisconsin State Journal, the high on the last official day of winter was “only” 73* but that’s because it rained. Prior to that we had five consecutive record breaking days.

One has to wonder what summer is going to be like if spring is beginning like this.

Spring in Edgerton, WI:

Barbara Gavin-Lewellyn

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A Gift from the Great Plains

It’s no longer a question of staying healthy.  It’s a question of finding a sickness you like. Jackie Mason (1934- )

It has already been a miserable cold and flu season here in the neighborhood, ladies and gentlemen.  I have been sick three times  with upper respiratory crud since I got my flu shot in October and fell and  twisted my knee for added insult and major pain.

I’m currently recovering from a cute little gem my brother imported from Nebraska when he came to visit.  Then his son got on an airplane in Chicago to Los Angeles to catch a connecting flight to Australia.  And got sick mid-flight.   This is how the flu gets around the world in three easy steps.

Well it isn’t really the flu because you aren’t in any danger of dying  You just think you might. And it doesn’t last that long thank the powers that be. I only lost two days of my life to drench the sheets fever burn and violent expulsions of bodily fluids.  Yesterday I had to ask my good neighbor David to take my dog, Igor out to do his duty.  Today I felt well enough to do it without moaning and groaning too much.

My brother complained of terrible indigestion and cramping in his bowels but I didn’t suffer any of that.  Or haven’t yet.  What I noticed most was  horrid fatigue but aside from cough drops and my regular NSAID pain medication augmented by Ibuprofen, I didn’t take anything for it.  I really need to get some theraflu in the house.  Mostly I just slept and tried to stay hydrated.  Not an easy task since anything that went in wanted to make a hasty exit.

I’ll apologize in advance for my part in releasing these Nebraksa germs into Wisconsin’s bioshpere if you succumb to this.

B

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