Ava-doting

Our granddaughter, Ava, is with us for this week, and I want so badly to share each moment of pleasure and enjoyment which is every moment we have had with Ava this week. But it is just not possible. For one thing I have worked Monday and Tuesday for 4 hours and those were 8 hours of excruciating struggle to complete my tasks for other children in order to return to Ava. But today I was rewarded handsomely. As I pulled into the driveway at 2:00, Andrew and Ava were outside and I found much compensation for the 8 hours I have spent away from her, those little tiny arms lifted upwards toward me to pull her to my body for a great big hug.

She must be the most special child on the Earth but I am sure Hope and Paige would disagree with me. But only Ava has "Badger" for a name. We marvel at her intelligence, beauty and ability to adapt to an ever changing world. Diane brought her to us in a state of unwavering sleep. She awoke with an asute appraisal of the people who smiled and preened at her. She did not smile at them until Tuesday, but when that approval came, the world opened as though Moses again had parted the Red Sea. At first she only allowed me, Grandmommy, to hold her and cuddle her and dress her and feed her but on Tuesday she deigned to allow her Granddad and her Knight in Shining Armor the pleasure of her acceptance. Were they proud? The answer is a resounding "YES!" Yesterday she napped two hours in the morning and no hours in the afternoon and so by 8:00 she was asleep, just in time for a martini and Dancing With The Stars to be enjoyed by her weary Grandmommy. Not only did she sleep at an opportune moment, she slept for 10 hours for the second night in a row. Today Grandmommy got home from work to spend hours playing with her, especially under the Japanese Magnolia tree. The game played under this tree has special significance. But now at 5:00 she has fallen asleep on the floor in front of Grandmommy's many spools of thread scattered on the floor. Who cares? Not Grandmommy! She sleeps beside her.

Flowering Trees

Douglasville, Georgia is one of the most attractive places on Earth during the spring season. Or do I just love the town for any reason? I do love the spring flowers and today I give you two examples of what we locals enjoy beginning around the middle of March.

I discovered this absolutely beautiful Bradford pear tree in a Douglasville neighborhood off of Chapel Hill Road. Unsurrounded by other trees, the purity of the white blooms makes one gasp with appreciation.

This picture does not do justice to the lovely ethereal quality of the blooms on these pink cherry trees. Many neighborhoods in Douglasville line the front entrance with the lacy and slightly rose colored trees. These sentinels of greeting make the viewers/visitors pause at least briefly to admire the plain old prettiness of the scene.

All over the city the Bradford pear and the cherry tree have been used to welcome visitors, to enhance property, and to announce the arrival of spring. Some years the blooms are fuller than others, but I enjoy each and every one. More pictures follow. I tried to photograph the sun behind the blooms. For some reason, the flowers appear more heavenly that way. Let me know if you can see the beauty of the plants in the photograph.

Another rainy night in Georgia

I know. I know. I should be ashamed of myself. I have neglected this blog for many months now. And it has such a good purpose: What's the weather like in Douglasville? I have no excuse. I simply got caught up in the living instead of the observing of the weather and life in Douglasville, but now that I have led my husband to blogsville, I have no reason not to pursue my original intention to write each day. He is off to a fast start and leaving me in his dust or is it pollen?

Right now I am looking out of my home office window and I see darkness descending under the cover of thunder clouds. After all, it is 7:40 p.m. DST. But after all the plague of winter weather this past season, one would think and hope that thunder clouds would not be part of the weather scenery.

No matter, the neighborhood's daffodils have lightened my day several times. When I pull out of the neighborhood and when I return, I get to see their sunny, gleeful faces greeting me. And to add to the lightness, the gorgeous Bradford pear trees are blooming throughout the city. Their whiteness makes me think of angel wings and stuff.

Good night for now.