Back in the U.S.A.

4-17-11 SHORT HILLS: The trip home was the usual long bus ride, but the landing in strong, gusting winds at EWR was a thud. We breezed through immigration and customs, even with an x-ray bag check. The dogs were most excited to see us and get home.

There was a lot of rain last night—the gauge had about 1.5 inches when we got home and 4 inches this morning, so we got about 2.5 inches as a welcome home shower. There are flood warnings for the usual low-lying towns.

I walked around the yard this morning with the canine escort. All the shrubs and trees are showing fat buds and first leaves except rose-of-sharon. More daffodils and forsythia are out. Hosta shoots are visible. The grass is greener, but there’s still plenty of mud. Inside tomato and herb seedlings are up.

New blooms: trout lily, claytonia, blood root.


Forsythia are indestructible. Prune them to the ground, drive a truck into them, they just grow back. They struggle in full shade. I like to see them take their natural shape, hay stack, rather than get trimmed into balls or other geometrical shapes.

Trout Lily, named, I suppose, because the leaf shape and stippling is suggestive of a trout or, perhaps, because they appear about the same time as fishing season. Anybody?