Birds of Paradise | Saying nothing in particular

The Midori Calendar I received for Christmas

Here in California, February is an odd month. The daffodils have started to sprout from the ground and the camellias are blossoming …

But an atmospheric river has just begun to hit the region and with it, rain. For at least the next five days. Rain.

If you’ll notice, the Japanese do not celebrate the same holidays as we do. There’s no Groundhog Day or Valentine’s Day or President’s Day. Instead the Japanese celebrate something called National Foundation Day on the 11th. It’s sort of like their July 4th. There will be parades, etc.

I’m not even going to attempt a “Japanese History for Dummies” lesson here because their history is mind boggling. February 24 they celebrate the Emperor’s birthday. Unlike our President’s Day, this day honors the birthday of their current emperor, Emperor Naruhito, who was born on Feb. 23, 1960. He seems like a nice enough fellow but from what I’ve read he has less power than King Charles of England.

I imagine this is the symbol for February in Japanese. So elegant don’t you think?

February is from the Latin word meaning either purification or cleansing or fertility or all three for all I know. I awoke this morning feeling energetic for the first time since, well I don’t know when. Certainly since November 5th.

I hope you all awoke feeling energetic. Be prepared. February will go really fast and then comes the Ides of March! Et tu, who-know-who?

We had a brief peek of Spring last week, two days with temperatures in the seventies and so I spent all day outside mostly scrubbing mold off outdoor furniture and the deck. Still outside.

But alas, a peek is all we got and then the fog bank moved in. And it became glum. And yesterday sirens blasted for a good half hour as helicopters circled the skies. Google maps reported that the nearby highway had been closed because of multi-car accidents. But the news stations were fixated on Trump farting or Trump nodding off or Trump having a temper tantrum. Frankly, my dear, I could give a s**t. I wonder if all that Trump news caused the drivers on Highway 24 to lose their minds and play bumper cars!

The blooms, so hungry for sun, weep to see its departure.

No painter could ever touch the artistry of nature. Although I am tempted to try. If only the sun would come back. Among my other faults, I can only paint in natural light.

The last time I posted was April 13th – 10 days ago. Besides scrubbing the mold off decks, I’ve been pulling together two stories that … after a lifetime, sigh … I’ve realized are the same story. Which necessitated ignoring Yee Olde Blogge. During the time I’ve been gone, these are the posts that someone (God knows who or why has been reading or at least viewing):

It’s always interesting to see which posts land in the “Top Posts” slot when I’ve been away for a while. It always makes me wonder. How about you?