Of buttercups, weddings, and trash hunts

My spirit has taken an upward turn with the start of spring. March brought the first signs: tempertures in the 40's, tiny green shoots emerging from the thawing soil, even crocuses here and there. With April came daffodils and cherry blossoms, and eventually tulips, buttercups, pink willows, hyacinths, and just starting to open now are the dogwoods. For all my angst about the weather in Pennsylvania, I do love spring here - and the dreadful wait that winter imposes makes the reward of spring that much sweeter.

Another highlight of March was participating in Jessica and Manuel's wedding in Sacramento! (We love you, Auntie Sica and Tio Manolo!) Lili'u was their flower girl and she had the time of her life flitting about in her beautiful white dress. She made up her own rules during the ceremony, as most flower girls in the "under five" set are apt to do: she saved the scattering of petals until she was on stage and then resorted to dumping the contents of the basket in a pile behind the bride!


In honor of Earth Day, Lili'u and I invited our good friends Luki, Leela, and baby Isa out on a trash collection walk. We each put on latex gloves and carried a plastic grocery bag. The ground rules: no broken glass and stay on the sidewalk. The girls really got into it. My guess is it was partly the joy of a hunt (like the Easter version they so enjoyed recently) and partly the novelty of getting to pick up yucky things that mommies always tell you not to touch. At one point, Lili'u struck up a conversation with some neighbors, saying "I'm cleaning up the earth! And it's okay because I'm wearing plastic gloves!" After collecting 6-8 bags full of trash, the girls helped us separate out the recyclable items. It was fun seeing their pride and excitement throughout the process.