Most people think Spring is nowhere nears, but to me Spring starts on January 1. Somehow, any flowers that I see after that date count as Spring blooms for the New Year, while December flowers count as "it's unseasonably warm and things are blooming early." I realize this is ridiculous, but tell that to the
Bay trees. Manzanita is also blooming and it's a good thing someone else is in charge, because I had no idea that was supposed to be happening around
now.
I also saw the first tick of the season, hanging out on some
Elymus glaucus seeds. I have a habit of collecting native grass seeds as I walk and redistributing them in some fantasy of micro-restoration. This practice has taught me to check seed-stalks for spiders and other inhabitants in fall, and for ticks in spring. I neither want to be a home-wrecker nor to end up with a handful of unpleasantness. Anyways, this tick was just chilling with his arms raised up. If we could hear him, it seems he would be saying: "Haaaaay! Haaay, wassUP? WASSUP? I haven't seen you since LAST YEAR! Let's CHAT! HAY!" Either that or he might just be saying "meep." Who knows.
Today I was at Mount Umunhum. Usually nobody knows what to make of that word, which means hummingbird in one of the Ohlone languages. So sometimes people make fun of it. Today it occurred to me that I'd love to hear a native speaker say it. If it were said a specific way, I bet it would sound like a hummingbird's
wings.
As I hiked I comforted myself for some time with the thought that when I'm an old lady and have lived an excellent life and have nobody around to care how I smell, I shall smoke as much as I please.
Anything you miss lately? Anything new?
3 comments:
When you are an old lady, you can live in a shack on Mt Um like one character did. The local Native Peoples have been asking to reserve some section of the restored top to hold their ceremonies.
I'm in. I'll be a crotchety old gatekeeper and make sure that everyone gets what they need and nobody does harm and I'll kick their asses out at sundown except girls who show up an hour late all puffy and contrite.
I don't envy MROSD's job right now. Can the Ohlones get sole use for however long the AF had it plus 7% interest?
Cuz,
I think spring is here too. After the time change when the darkness becomes my enemy, I too, begin the countdown to the next time change. The one that will let me feel that sun on my nose casting freckles until 8 or 9pm. When I smell things in the air that trigger poolside memories. Coconut oil, BBQ smoke, and the plants blooming all around me. My countdown begins each year after Jan 1st, because I know each day is one slow step toward the light. That summer sunlight that my body craves. The light that makes me feel that everything is going to be OK.
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