Welcome to Friday, mates. Norman here, joined with my Ninja sister, Elsa ready to share a spot of Nature from this week. As always, we’re joining Rosy and Sunny from the LLB life. Be sure to click on the link to see what others have shared.
Elsa: We gonna get this show on the road or what?
Norman: Patience little one. I need to set this up first. You know that we had to go see my Grandpa, right?
Elsa: Yes, I know that.
Norman: Well our readers, didn’t so I’m ‘setting the stage’ as to what went down. Ok? Can I proceed now?
Elsa: Fine then. Knock your socks off, dude.
Norman: Well apart from hitting the road, it was quite the week. I think we ‘enjoyed‘ all 4 seasons. The place where my Grandpa lives broke a 133 year old record for most rainfall in a 24 hour period. And at our house, there has been lots of wind. Again. Which means crunchy leaves showed up and needed to be raked. One day even had rain mixed with snow. But it’s official though, spring has sprung. Just check out these tulips.
Elsa: That’s pretty spring-like. I know you and Mom like the pink ones but we haven’t seen too many of those. Red seems to be the number 1 color of tulips we see on our walks, like this one.
Norman: Mum was afraid the snow that fell last weekend might damage some of the flowering trees but this crabapple seems nonetheless harmed. They sure are pretty when they’re exploding with buds. And the bees sure seem to love them at this stage.
Elsa: I thought that one evening before the rain began was almost eerie, much like at Halloween but much better than all those leaves that Mom had to rake up. I mean, who ever heard of raking leaves in April? Mom regretted not having her big camera with her when she saw the clouds around the moon but at least was able to capture the mood.
Norman: We managed to see all kinds of clouds on our trip and some of the more eerie ones were when we drove past the federal SuperMax prison located just outside Florence, Colorado. Did you know this is the most secure prison in the U.S. prison system and houses some high profile inmates? It was a foreboding scene with those clouds hanging over the prison where such notorious prisoners reside such as “Shoe Bomber” Richard Reid, Terry Nichols of Oklahoma Bombing fame, Ted Kaczynski, the Unabomber, and Thomas Silverstein, the former Aryan Brotherhood leader and convicted murderer who has been in solitary confinement longer than any other U.S. prisoner (since 1983). Silverstein was one of the reasons the ADX SuperMax was designed following his uncontrollable activities committed at other prisons.
Elsa: Yikes, those are some bad hombres for sure {shudder}. I’m glad we didn’t stop there for lunch!
Norman: No, we managed to dodge the bullet there but Mum did find a window display she thought was creepy in a funny sort of way in the town of Florence.
Elsa: Oh sure, pick on us poodles.
Norman: Well on the bright side, they were displayed eating some tasty looking food.
Elsa: You’re always thinking about food, you big oaf!
Norman: {indignantly sniffing) I’m not even going to respond to that unfair accusation.
Elsa: Unfair? You clean out my bowl after every meal. I’m surprised the stainless steel is still in tact.
Norman: Ahem…getting back to nature, sister, Mum saw her first blooming Bearded Iris yesterday. It’s quite early for them to be blooming. Apparently its southeastern exposure mimics more Summer-like conditions. See, I told you all we had all 4 seasons in one week!
Elsa: That’s just nuts…blooming Irises in April. What is this world coming to?
Norman: Can’t answer that but hope that’s not an indication of an extra hot Summer ahead. I can barely tolerate it as it is. I may need to get a haircut sooner than I had planned.
Elsa: Tell me about it, I’m a black dog, do you have any idea how hot sunny conditions feel on my back? No siree, pal…not looking forward to a hot Summer OR a bath and groom, come to think of it. Definitely count me out.
Norman: Now, now, don’t get your knickers in a bunch. Mum will be gentle and make it as easy as possible. Just don’t make it harder for her, okay.
Elsa: Ha, me make things hard? Surely you jest.
Norman: {snickering under his breath} Right-that’s me, Mr. Jester. No doubt I have you confused with a different Ninja. Anywho…the weekend is upon us and I hope it means we all get a chance to get outside and enjoy some of the lovelier elements of Mother Nature. Do you have anything special or exciting planned for the last weekend in April?
Live, love, bark! 🐾