Birds and blooms!

As this goes to press on the last Sunday in March '09 the weather here is anything but spring-like -- around 34 degrees with cold rain that turns to snow now and then, maybe freezing on the

roads in some places. But, the daffodils are blooming brightly in the flower bed next to our apartment building entrance, and we are hearing and seeing birds on and off our balcony already! This reminds me of the many places where we have watched the blossoms come in spring: In Weilheim, south Germany, we had the second-story apartment in a two-family house and the single landlady had not yet moved into the apartment below. The lawn area was not yet fully landscaped, but Fraulein Balk had planted tulip bulbs in one spot and was looking forward to some beautiful colors in due time. Sorry, our daughters Judy and Mary Ruth invaded that little garden spot one day and Mother heard them exclaiming "Zwiebeln...Zwiebeln!" (German for "onions") and soon discovered that the girls were digging up our landlady's tulip bulbs! The German people love flowers and the local veterinarian's house and garden next door was a truly Bavarian floral showcase. In the late '50's we lived in a row-house on the southeast side of Munich and our neighbors there, Herr and Frau Edhofer, made the best of a very small back yard with a rock garden. We were amused each spring when Herr Edhofer would be seen out in that area on hands-and-knees with a magnifying glass, searching for the first crocus to break through the ground! For rustic splendor nothing could match our last place of service in English, IN. The "hills and hollers" of Crawford County came alive each spring with thousands of redbud trees in bloom, and just 20 miles or so north up Highway 37 we also enjoyed driving through Paoli, IN, which is celebrated as the "Dogwood Capital" of the world! This week in our Bible Class here at Rosedale Court in Crawfordsville, we are studying the Genesis Flood and God's promises to mankind following that terrible judgment, especially chapter 8, verse 22: "While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease!" Praise the Lord, 'cause I'm looking ahead to Mary K.'s "birds and blooms" on our balcony in the next few weeks!