Spring and the blood moon

Monday night was Erev Pesach and I conducted the seder as usual but to a much smaller group this year, partly because it fell on a Monday and partly because of problems various people had – for instance, one person had to fly to California because his mother went into the hospital for a serious operation. Still it was a good group, serious, involved. I enjoyed it very much. Of course, the food was great. That night was a blood moon. I woke up at the right time to see it, but it was too cloudy. Oh, well, we’ll perhaps see one of the next three.It's much cooler this week and overcast, but tomorrow it should improve.  Old friends from my SDS days will be on the Cape this weekend and taking us to brunch on Sunday.  Brunch is not something i usually agree to, but we figure that way we can get seated before the after church rush. I’m looking forward to seeing them, especially since I’ve lost three friends these past two weeks and three more have various kinds of cancer. I just had a short interview with the New York Times about my agent from the guy writing her obituary.  Also the plumber was by this morning to fix the upstairs toilet that was making terrifying shrill noises. it was a hectic morning. With the planting done for a while, I've gotten back to work and written three poems this week.  i have to start thinking about my program next weekend at the Newburyport Literary Festival.  Putting together the poetry program will be easy but i am reading short fiction for an hour by myself and have to figure out what to read.  It's new to me, reading a short story. I’ll have to time a couple of stories – but which ones will go well out loud?We have some oysters from friends who farm shellfish and will have them tonight.  Woody had oral surgery yesterday, removing a broken tooth and inserting a post into his bone for an implant later on. Dale drove and then we shopped together for an hour and a half, first at Trader Joe's and then at Ocean State Joblots.  Dale went to boston Monday for a checkup and was given good news, no cancer.  then he drove to Logan Airport Wednesday to pick up friends and their dog, meeting two different planes.  Then he drove Woody to Hyannis yesterday morning. There aren’t many people I know who take friendship as seriously as Dale does and who put themselves out for their friends the way he does. I find it extremely admirable. The seeds are sprouting in the garden. i can see the spinach out my window, it's already big enough to be visible. The so-called Cornelian Cherry which is actually a yellow dogwood is in full bloom, better than ever.  About a 100 daffodils are blooming and so are some deep blue hyacinths and many small bulbs along the kitchen terrace and all along the path to the gazebo. But some fucking varmints that were new to us and moved onto the terrace and made a home under an old railroad tie ate almost all the red tulips we planted last fall and the ones that had survived previous winters. I really miss the red emperors as they’re about my favorite tulip, big, bright, hardy. The voracious creatures are voles, but not the little ones we’re used to. They are called Southern Red Voles – Southern because the type of vole they are lives far north in Canada – and these were the grey form, not the rust colored.They are the size of rats. I saw them digging out bulbs and tried to chase them off but they just popped into their lair and went back to eating tulips as soon as I returned to the house. If it weren’t for the coywolves, I know Xena would drive them off or eat them. She gets hysterical through the window when she sees them. They darted into their burrow and hid the first couple of times she hurled her considerable self against the window, but they quickly learned she can’t get at them. I am hoping to get into the garden this weekend if the weather improves. Time to start pruning the rosebushes and learning which survived this dreadful winter. There’s considerable winterkill on all of them.