Laugh and the world laughs with you. Weep and you weep alone, unless you do it in a Blues song. Or, as Bleeding Gums Murphy said, "The blues isn't about making yourself feel better. It's about making other people feel worse."
I got the Blues. Oh, yes I do. Could it be that Chicago is the home of the Blues because of our weather? It sure has gotten me down. I managed to keep my chin up and a sunny smile on my face all winter despite the cold and snow, with the thought of all the springtime beauties to come. But this wicked hot, dry weather has screwed things up. Yes, it's been hot, and 82 degrees Fahrenheit with no rain is not good for ephemerals. While I'm not going to put up a video of me singing about it like Annie in Austin does, let me tell you about it anyway.
I was waiting and waiting for Dicentra culcullaria to send up a flower. In Madison, Wisconsin* they were blooming with power. I was surprised. Got a question in my head. A good look left me crying Cause the buds had shriveled and were dead. I got The Blues,
No Dutchman's Breeches for me.
Now the redbuds are blooming, all around about. But my Cercis canadensis is only leafing out. I got The Blues.
No redbuds for me.
In Indiana†, the double bloodroots are in bloom, and in Upstate New York^, they're blooming there too. Mine finally sprouted, with only a leaf. There's no sign of buds, and I'm feeling such grief. I got The Blues.
No double bloodroot for me.
The April rains won't come the ground's full of cracks. And my poor little primrose ain't never coming back. I got The Blues.
No primrose for me.
Now the cottonwood tree is raining sticky stuff on down. I got no time to weed got to pick it up off the ground. I got The Blues.
Sticky stuff for my shoes.
Oh, the bluebells,
lungworts
and Muscari are pretty,
the Brunneras too,
but somethings still missing, and I still got them Blues. The Squirrelhaven Springtime Blues. Oh, yeah.
Anything in your springtime garden giving you the Blues?
*Each Little World †May Dreams Gardens ^Cold Climate Gardening, Gardening While Intoxicated