Spring is On Her Way

I'm back at ESCAPE to the Arts one afternoon a week to teach Sparks! I'm so glad to reconnect with old students, and meet new ones. (Sparks is a curriculum for middle school students that involves learning about significant events in American history, and then taking a week long trip in the summer to travel to these places and actually see them. Past years have included Boston, Newport, Amish country, Washington D.C., and New Bedford. This year we'll be going to San Francisco and Los Angeles!)

The students at one point began begging that I tell them a Greek myth. I often retold these old stories while we worked to entertain the kids. They asked for me to tell them about Spring, and how it came to be that the seasons would change. I recounted the myth of the grain goddess Demeter losing her daughter Persephone to Hades, King of the Underworld. Since Persephone ate of the food of the dead, it was agreed that she would stay on the earth with her mother for part of the year, and remain in the Underworld for the rest of the year. Each time Persephone makes her journey to the Underworld, Demeter begins to grieve, and the trees lose their leaves and the frost kills the grass. In due time, the goddess Spring retrieves Persephone from her underground dwelling, and reunites mother and daughter. Demeter's happiness results in new growth and warmer, longer days.

While it is still February, and only a couple days ago we were treated to a gentle snowfall, there are signs of spring going on inside my house.

The amaryllis has bloomed. It was once an ugly little bulb sitting forgotten in a pot at Stop 'n' Shop. I immediately loved it, and though it wasn't in their inventory and we had no idea what it was, we purchased it anyway. Lover dubbed it "Lord Stubbingtons." In time, long green leaves emerged, and I soon recognized it as Amaryllis belladonna.

Also:

A weeping pussy willow, in bloom, and a male, as you can see by the plethora of yellow stamens. Once the ground is warm again, I plan to plant the little tree into the backyard by the forsythia.

I mentioned in my last post that we had a new addition:

Peekaboo! Otter, or Quadrapus as we call her. A beautiful tortoiseshell Munchkin.

A Munchkin cat is a cat with shortened legs. The gene is similar to the gene in dogs that produces dachshunds and corgis. It doesn't interfere with her ability to jump or run as cats with longer legs do, and there are no spine-related issues despite the short legs. Munchkins are very lovable, trainable, and precocious!

This morning, I found my gorgeous amaryllis on the floor among dirt and shards of porcelain, roots exposed. Otter had gotten a little too excited about the fishtank that the flower was placed next to, and this mess was the result. Lover helped me to clean up, "Lord Stubbingtons" was repotted, and I have since forgiven the little pest. She's too cute!

Coming soon... painting theater scenery, beautifying Bridgeport, ordering from seed catalogs, and finishing art projects!