May 15

It's getting to the point where the lilac bushes outside are just about ready to pop open and release their aroma. I rode my bike to work today and smelled a hint of lilacs a couple of times, but not the full-blown warmth of their aroma.

Went kayaking yesterday, got the first wood tick of the season. The water on the inland lake was quite cold but not Lake Superior cold.

It's getting to the point with a lot of the trees where the leaves are getting past bud stage, not quite fully grown, but you can see a little deciduous grove and say that it's starting to fill out and not look so barren. Some of the trees are dropping their buds on the sidewalk, leaving a big fluorescent yellow patch. I also saw a little bit of cottonwood seed dust lining the edge of a sidewalk.

Two of our apple trees have leaves and blooms. The third is a different variety that has the closed buds yet. I hope they all pollinate each other this year! Last year a late frost after a big March warm spell wiped out nearly all of the apples in this state. Our plum and cherry trees are also full of flowers right now.

The frost from a couple days ago did in fact affect some of the tomato plants in the back. I am keeping my eye on them. Some look damaged but not fully killed. I am hoping they come back and start to thrive again, because if not, I'll need to replace them pretty quickly.

I planted two varieties of potatoes this year, one of them came up like gangbusters and the other one has been coming in more thinly and a lot slower.

I ate lunch next to a creek. The garlic mustard has come in and already flowered. In our backyard it has come in thick and with a vengeance. I sat under a big tree and watched mallards head downstream.