Winters are usually mild, but every 4 years or so (I'm no meteorologist, so don't look for statistics) we get a doozy of a snowstorm. Again, those of you in Toronto can just shake your heads and say, "call that a snowstorm, eh?" as you continue to travel safely around your city. Here in the South, everything grinds to a halt and you are advised to stay off the roads.
So spring is supposed to be the good season -- never long enough, but respite between high heating bills and high cooling bills. You throw open the windows and take in the lovely breeze scented with honeysuckle and jasmine. Camellias bloom like mad and the hydrangea bushes begin their trek from bedraggled to lush blue blossoms.
But along with that soft breeze come the sounds of the city. I live near a small retail area so the passing scene in front of my house is constant. College kids on bikes, skateboards, and scooters heading to and from class. Well-heeled moms push their massive strollers with their well-heeled (!) golden retrievers trotting beside. Suburbanites edge in and out and in again to ample parallel parking spots. And then there are the crazy people.
Now don't get me wrong -- I'm as crazy as the next gal. The only differentiation is that I keep my crazy inside my house (well, mostly). In my neighborhood there is a large adult residence. I'm not even sure what the criteria is to become a resident, but having slipped the bonds of conventional society is the common theme. Spring time means that the smokers are out in the yard when Boom and I walk before work. I don't begrudge anyone their small pleasure, but these people are some serious smokers, lighting one after the other until a small haze forms.
They are also some serious walkers. Wandering around, buying more cigarettes, oft times carrying on a lively conversation, they are a regular presence. Some are afraid of Boom and cross the street to avoid him. Others make a beeline for him and pat him happily on the head. Boom has always seemed to know when he should just hang around for a pet and not start barking obnoxiously to get back to the walk. It is just part of the daily rhythm of my neighborhood and Boom understands that when we are outside.
But from inside the house with open windows allowing all manner of odd noises to reach him, Boom gets downright perturbed. He leaps up from a full snoring nap at the sound of a car door opening and charges the door to bark fiercely at the startled couple on their way to a $1.99 movie. Then, he turns his head (imagine the sound effect when the Bionic Woman turned her head to listen) and races to the back door because somebody rode a bike over a bump in the back alley.
After all these maneuvers, he returns to me with an expression of faint disapproval clearly visible and breathes heavily on me as he awaits my reaction. He knows I'm going to say, "it's outside Boom. We won't let them in." I know he's going to continue his vigilance.
And we both know that after Neighbor John helps me carry in the window unit from the garage, we'll miss the sounds.
Tell all your single friends, that's spring you are feeling!
XO, JamieSmitten
1 comment:
Spring in Virginia. I miss it so.
Almost as much as Autumn in Virginia.
Summer in Virginia, not so much.
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