5/10/11 THE ECONOMY MIMICS THE NORTHERN SPRING

A CONFUSED DAY

WAY TO EARLY  FOR TOMATOES

Tuesday, 7:45 AM, wind NE at ground level, light with stronger gusts.  High clouds are moving in exactly the opposite direction.  The sky is mostly clear but hazy, and the barometer now predicts rain.  It is a somewhat confused day, but it looks like we will have rain later.  I can’t find either of my rain gages, which were put away at the onset of winter in some obvious place that is not now so obvious.  Seems to happen more all the time. 
    I didn’t need the barometer this morning, as Lucky could hardly get out of bed, his arthritis acting up so badly.  I have a few twinges myself.  A neighbor slowed her car and rolled down the window as we hobbled along this morning, saying, “You both look like I feel.”  I guess we’re not alone.
    I have caught up with most of the yard and garden work, and the lawn will need to be mowed for the first time by the weekend.  The little herb garden looks pretty, two empty spaces waiting for the tomato plants, which won’t be planted until after Memorial Day this year. That’s all Joan and I need anymore, we still have some left in the freezer from last fall.  The birds have been happily picking seeds and insects and worms out of the freshly tilled soil, mostly robins and a lot of song sparrows.
    We have a large delivery of trees coming this morning, which will be unloaded and stored in the driveway until planted.  Trees for the city and for several other jobs.  It has been a molasses-slow start to spring, and I am ready to see some tasks accomplished. 
    The economy mimics our northern spring; arthritic and painfully slow to start up, but eventually the business cycle, like the natural progression of the seasons, won’t be denied.