What a beautiful Wring Day!!!

Or maybe it is a wintering.....or a beautiful sprinter day.  You know what I mean if you are currently living in Catty; it is this crazy time of year when Mother Nature can't decide whether it is Spring or Winter. 

It occurred to me this morning after I posted a picture of my shoes on the floor - I had sandals, slipper, work shoes and boots all sitting together.  Parke even told me about it last night.  He asked what the heck I was preparing for.  I wasn't preparing, it was just the shoes that I had worn the last week or two.


I know everything growing in my yard is confused.  My Magnolia Tree which had not bloomed yet but had been in bud, looks now like it won't bloom.  The buds are turning brown and falling off. This makes me sad because I love magnolia flowers.


My lilacs have little buds and seemed to have handled the cold okay, but this morning I thought I might have lost the flowers on my white lilac.  It seemed like last night's freezing cold made everything look a little sad this morning.

In my above ground hot house my strawberries are blooming!  It is evident to me that even the flowers, trees and shrubs are confused this year. 

In looking at my weather app - the low is Tuesday night at 33 degrees.  But that's okay it should be 62 by Thursday.  Yup it is Wring.  Enjoy it.

And that's ..... another day in Catasauqua

Play Ball!

Well it's that time of year again - Baseball Season! - I don't recall every going  to a game so cold as it was Saturday night.  We got to the game around

5:30 PM.  I wanted to walk around once to see what was new at the park before sitting down.

My favorites- the Philly Pretzel Company and "Aw Shucks" Roasted Corn return in two locations.  Most of the times we eat at home before going to the game because it is so expensive to eat there, but occasionally we splurge and have dinner.

Two new places, both of which I look forward to trying are the "Sooeey'te Spot" Frozen Yogurt Bar and the "Boar-rito" Mexican stand.  Other brand-new offerings include the Dietz & Watson "Brew & Brats Platz" Grill featuring regular and jalapeno bratwurst served on a pretzel bun, a one-of-a-kind bacon-wrapped hot dog along with a smoothie stand providing healthy fresh fruit drinks in a variety of unique flavors.

But, I can tell you that on Saturday night I was not eating at the frozen yogurt bar, nor having my favorite, dipping dots, it was just too darn cold.  I wore - cuddle duds, jeans, socks, boots with fur inside, a thermal top under my Iron Pigs sweatshirt, a scarf, hat with ear flaps, jacket, and a pair of gloves, with a pair of mittens on top.    Parke and I covered with a blanket and were the last people left in our section at the top of the 10th inning.  This is when we left.  Parke wasn't dressed in as many layers as I and was getting cold. 

The Pigs won in the 11th inning;  bummer, that we didn't get to see it, but I got 17 more games to go.  Maybe more.  My next game is Wednesday, temps are suppose to be in the 80's in the afternoon and down to 59 at night, a little better than the 49 degrees we experienced Saturday night. 

I can't tell you anything about the new urinal game for men, but the ladies room had - what I thought was a media board that showed upcoming events, until I walked over to it and it turned into a mirror, thanks to the motion sensor, which I of course,  had to keep moving back and forth watching.

Also new is PorkCenter - Minor League Baseball's first and only fan-interactive social media command center, affording fans the unique opportunity to supplement their game day experience at Coca-Cola Park and beyond. Download the IronPigs brand-new app, available for iPhone and Android on Monday, April 1, for a chance to enter PorkCenter during each IronPigs home game.

I can't tell you anything about this yet, since currently I own a dumbphone.

Anyway - so it begins - spring, baseball and soon time to start planting the garden, another year......another day in Catasauqua.

Batter Batter Swing in the Snow

Parke, with snow on his hood at Coca-cola Park

Woo Hoo it was time to pick up our 18 game plan tickets for the Iron Pigs with only 19 Days until the first game and IT'S SNOWING!!!!!!!

Yup, snowing, now my grandfather would call this onion snow, because it is time to plant the onions which he always did around St. Patrick's Day, which is tomorrow.

However, did you know the term is basically only used in Pennsylvania.   I didn't know that; and it is defined as a light snow in late spring, after onions have been planted.  So I guess this isn't onion snow after all.

Well, there's only 3 days to spring so I guess - let it snow - for it shall melt quickly.  Spring is just a hop around the corner in Catty and so is baseball at the Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs.  I can't wait!

So batter, batter swing and this is .....another day in Catasauqua

HAPPY SPRING!!!!

The Spring or Vernal Equinox is a celebration of the rebirth of nature and brings with it the symbols of birth/rebirth. It is full of traditional symbols and superstitions.

As part of the vernal equinox ritual, eggs play an important role in the festivities throughout the world. According to folklore, the vernal equinox is the one time of the year that eggs can be stood on end. Earth and nature are said to be in harmony if an egg can be balanced on its end during the equinox, at the very point in time, when day and night are also in balance. (It is said that this is a myth, that once you know how to balance an egg, you can do it any time)

The Vernal Equinox, the first official day of Spring is on or about March 20. It is the point at which the sun crosses the celestial equator from south to north. This signals the beginning of Spring in the Northern Hemisphere.

The vernal equinox has long been a significant event in the lives of agricultural peoples as it symbolizes nature's regeneration, fertility, growth and bounty. The word equinox comes from Latin and means "equal night". On this day, night and day each last twelve hours.(and that happens daylight savings time or not)

People have recognized the vernal equinox for thousands of years. There is no shortage of rituals and traditions surrounding the coming of spring. Many early peoples celebrated for the basic reason that their food supplies would soon be restored. The date is significant in Christianity because Easter always falls on the first Sunday after the first full moon after the vernal equinox. It is also probably no coincidence that early Egyptians built the Great Sphinx  so that it points directly toward the rising Sun on the day of the vernal equinox.

The first day of spring also marks the beginning of Nowruz, the Persian New Year. The celebration lasts 13 days and is rooted in the 3,000-year-old tradition of Zorastrianism .

I know of no spring celebrations here in Catasauqua, maybe we should start some.  I am not sure what it would be, but I am sure we could think of something, in the meantime HAPPY SPRING and that's another day in Catasauqua.

Spring, Bridges and Flowers in Catty

As I was preparing for dinner, I sat on the front porch snapping beans.  It is amazing, has spring truly sprung, or as Parke says when I ask him if he is going to put the snow shovels away, "I am waiting for the big one."

I watched cars go by with the top down.  I saw ants on the pavement.  Bugs are flying around already.  My flowers are gorgeous.  Is mother nature pulling a trick on us, or is the winter that never really happened?

I am loving it.  I hope this is not a precursor to a really hot summer.  Let's not even think about that and just enjoy the beautiful weather in Catasauqua.

Took a walk with Parke after supper and was armed with the camera.  Do you know that on March 27th last year I attempted to get pictures of flowers and I had a hard time, not today.  Hyacinths, Daffodils and even something that looks like tulips are already in bloom.  A few more days and the Magnolia Trees will be in full bloom.  I can't believe it.

AND SPEAKING OF THINGS I CAN'T BELIEVE - the Race Street bridge will have lane restrictions this Monday and Tuesday from 9am to 3pm, for bridge inspection.  What if it doesn't pass, are they going to close it?  Duh, they couldn't do this before they closed the Pine Street Bridge?   I am off on Monday, so I won't have to deal with it, but I work Tuesday and because I work such strange hours it will affect me one way or another.   

When it comes to the Pine Street Bridge closure what bothers me the most is that it is almost time for BASEBALL - mainly Iron Pigs Baseball and I usually go down Race Street to Canal Road to go to Coca Cola Park.  Have you tried that at 5:00 PM yet, omg, you just inch along.  Hate that! 

Well enough whining, have a great evening, get out and enjoy this beautiful weather because it's another day in Catasauqua.

Trying to find Spring in Catasauqua

It was Sunday, March 27, the calendar tells me it's spring, the groundhog told me it's spring, so I decided to try to find signs of spring in Catasauqua.

First I say to Parke that I am going to take a walk and try to get some pictures of the signs of spring. He said he was taking a walk to the golf course and back so I told him I would join him, on the way back I would hit Hartzell's to pick up a prescription. As I gathered my camera and slipped on my jacket I turn to find Parke in a parka, knit cap and gloves pretty much his snow shoveling outfit. I sighed heavily. He said that Saturday he went for a walk and it was so cold that he was half frozen until he got back. I nodded and off we went. To my dismay, Parke was right, it was cold and windy out, I had to put my hood up and to further rub it in, we passed two sets of couples, all dressed like Parke.

Parke wanted to know what I wanted to get pictures of. I said flowers, buds on the trees maybe a robin, something that tells me spring is coming to Catasauqua. Well, along the way we did find flowers. I was surprised to see hyacinths, lots of daffodils and a rogue tulip here and there. We made it to the golf course and Parke said, "why not take a picture of the golfers, that's a springy shot." I said, "No, they are there any sunny winter's day to."

On the way back we split up as I headed to the playground. Ah, more signs that warmer weather is on the way. A girl on her bike, a boy skateboarding by, then it hit me, like a knife through the heart, someone had a "Let it Snow" wreath on there door with evergreens still on there porch. PEOPLE IT'S SPRING wake up and smell the pollen. Well at least their yard didn't lie, daffodils were blooming at the side of the house!

Then I saw them, 6 robins on the top of the 3 dips, I tried to get a picture but the darn birds must be adverse to paparazzi, oh well I did manage to get a picture of one. I have attached some of the pictures I took, the one of the pool house down of the playground is actually a picture of kids playing basketball over at the playground another sure sign of spring, kids at play.

Well, the wind might have nipped at my nose and my cheeks were rosy when I got home, but like the song sung by Bette Midler says, "Just remember in the winter far beneath the bitter snow, lies the seed that with the sun's love, in the spring becomes the rose"....and that's another day in Catasauqua.