A Cherry in the Making

Nature is so amazing. Several weeks ago, I had cherry blossoms, and now the blossoms are turning into cherries. I love to check on my garden every day and see the changes that are occurring. There's a great feeling that comes with planting something (especially from seed) and watching it transform and grow. I think that's why I love to garden so much. I know I'm overstating the obvious again, but nature is so amazing.

Strawberries

Last fall, an intern from my last job gave me six strawberry plants from his own garden. He doesn't know the species and believes the the plants are ever-bearing (strawberries either bear fruit throughout the summer or during a particular month), and guarantees that the stawberries will be super sweet.

After this winter, only three plants survived the winter. Despite my sadness, I'm very excited about the remaining three. All are growing vigoriously, the leaves are healthy looking, and the flowers are turning into little strawberries. I might have to build a little mesh box to protect my fruit from the neighborhood squirrels and rabbits, but I can't wait for my first homegrown strawberry.

Sakura

My eyes cannot believe that spring is here. I don't laugh when people joke that winter lasts for nine months in my neck of the woods--seriously, it has been a long, cold winter. Despite my disbelief (I still don't know what to do with spring), I was plesantly surprised by cherry blossoms. What flower better symbolizes spring than the cherry blossom?

It's so cool that I actually have cherry blossoms in my back yard. Late in the fall, after I planted my cherry tree, I took precautions to protect it from the elements and neighborhood animals (I wrapped the trunk with a tree wrap and then put a thin sheet of metal around the trunk). I knew that my tree was going to be okay, but I didn't expect it to bloom in the spring. I believe that it's somewhere between three and five years old, and I thought that it would take several more years before I could expect any blossoms. Hopefully, these blossoms mean that I will have enough cherries for a pie. Here's to a potential cherry pie.

It Did Come (Oh Yeah)!

My tulips are blooming!

This is the first time I've planted tulips, and despite my misgivings about tulips being the standby, typical spring flower, I'm quite happy. The tulips are supposed to be vibrant red, but I think the weather here have made them a pale red. Either way, I still think my flowers are beautiful.

I'm still annoyed at the squirrels that visit my garden because I noticed that several of the tulip petals have been bitten clean off from the stem. I'm thinking about finding a way to keep the pesky critters away from my flowers, while still enjoying them. Let me know if you have any solutions, or any comments.

Walking

I have a walking routine that I do every weekend when the weather allows. I usually get up in the morning and walk for at least thirty minutes. Often I walk around my neighborhood, and sometimes I go to a lake in the city and walk around it. I love to walk and just observe my surroundings.

Today was such a beautiful day that I decided to head out to the lake for a mid-morning walk. People think I'm crazy or too "fit" because I don't chose to sleep in. However, I just can't justify sleeping in on such a beautiful day (especially with the crazy weather occurring here), and I always feel like I've wasted my morning if I slept in.

Anyhow, the sun was shining, the water was blue (no mosquitos and no scum on the lake yet), there were light breezes, and the birds were out. I just wanted to be outside all day, enjoy my surroundings, and be a part of nature.

The Bride with White Hair

Several weeks ago I saw the "Forbidden Kingdom" at the theater. This movie bills itself as the only movie that Jet Le and Jackie Chan appears in together (which is true). Anyhow, I hope to share more of my opinions about the movie at some point in the future (e.g. the story was too simplistic and obviously geared towards an Anglo-American market) and how much it has made me reappreicate Jet Li and his no-shadow kick (I [heart] Jet Li). However, at the moment, I'm going to gripe about how unhappy I am about how the movie reimagined the Bride with White Hair.

[FYI--SPOILERS--you are on notice.]

So what I really love about the "Forbidden Kingdom" is the fact that it's a homage to A LOT of Chinese action movies and the characters from these movies. The "Forbidden Kingdom" incorporates into its story, a character similar to the the Bride with White Hair (a character from an older, but very popular Chinese movie), but refers to its character as the "white-haired witch." Anyhow the "Forbidden Kingdom" recasts the Bride with White Hair as an evil character. Yes, the movie has it's right to reimagine the Bride with White Hair as an evil person, set on becoming immortal. However, in the original movies (there's the original and a sequel), the Bride with White Hair was a misunderstood woman, scorned by her true love, and then went on a killing spree. Okay, for those who have never seen the original movies, it sounds like the Bride with White Hair is evil, but she's not. As I already stated, she's just a misunderstood woman (seriously, you should check out the original movies).

Okay, so that's my gripe for now. I would encourage you all to watch the original Chinese movies, the Bride with White Hair, part one and two.