Has Spring arrived?

Buds are on our outside plants. Is it premature? Will they suffer a hard freeze in a few days that stunts their growth? Probably. Spring is a big tease in Michigan. She flirts like a fan dancer. When she finally sheds the fans, she explodes gloriously, but the time seems so short before our brief summer dances like a hazy mirage before us. If seasons were women, autumn would be a mature lady with a serene smile. She's busy and active, but not provocative. Winter is, alas, that bloated ancient crone who serves mystery meat in the cafeteria and wears her gray hair covered by a hairnet. Her lipstick has crawled up the lines in her mouth, and she never smiles.

I still have vestiges of golden color from our week in Paradise. Yesterday I noticed that my winter foundation was too pale for me and I had to shift to my summer foundation color. I don't wear makeup every day or I would have noticed it earlier, but I figured for the conference presentation, I ought to "doody up" a little bit. It was a good conference. I enjoyed myself, all except for the meal we were served at Calvin College. Their sackcloth-and-ashes religion apparently demands some very plain eating.

Now I need to get going on my conference paper for the Pop Culture Conference in St. Louis. We're leaving Tuesday evening since my presentation is Wednesday evening. So I've got the weekend to put it all together.

I should probably mention that my cousin Walt is not doing well. He had a liver transplant about 18 months ago, and now he has a mass in his brain and has had a couple of minor strokes. My heart goes out to him. He's suffered a lot.

I also should mention that my younger son reported on facebook (to his ex-wife, not to me) that he was escorted out of the Social Security office by armed guards because he got upset with the worker in the office. He tends to exaggerate to make the story better, so we checked with his brother. I'm still not sure of the story, since he would have downplayed the story to his brother.

I've been arguing on facebook with ignorant people again. Why? I don't know. I love to argue? But I do fear that my husband's sister-in-law will cause harm to the health of her husband and my mother-in-law with her latest fad, vitamins sold by some quack who believes that baking soda can cure cancer. This sister-in-law also believes that the census is a government conspiracy to intrude into the lives of the citizens for nefarious purposes.

And I'm really really disgusted with the idiots who spout the soundbites from the Obstructionist Party line. The latest is Sarah Stupid Palin who encouraged people to "reload"--a call to violence if ever I've heard one. We will erupt in civil war if this continues, and I blame it all on lack of education and lack of ability to analyze and think critically.

Ending on a good note: This morning I saw the muskrat foraging near the pond before he/she slipped quietly back into the water and V-ed a wave across the pond.