Now Come the Tulips

A few weeks ago I wrote about dancing daffodils and now it's time for tulips.

They're dancing through the neighborhood and tomorrow in Abingdon Square Park we'll celebrate them with a concert by Bachtopus--four accordians playing the classics. I can't wait. If you're in the area at noon, come on by.

For me May is lilacs and peonies. I found a lilac bush in the park right across from our building. That's not our building in the background.

For peonies I have to go shopping. Peonies bring up the memory of a crime I committed long ago. You know how peonies are tight round little balls before they burst into bloom? I was fascinated with them--and pulled every single one off my mother's new peony bush. I feel lucky to be alive. My punishment was that I was forbidden to pick flowers for the rest of the summer. You know what? To this day, I never pick flowers. I don't even like dead-heading my geraniums.

Look who I met in the park -- Mr. and Mrs. Mallard!

He was really strutting around but she kept out of the frame; I couldln't get them to pose together. Maybe they were looking for a place to build their nest and raise a family, just like in Make Way for Ducklings by Robert McCloskey. If you haven't read it get yourself to the library or bookstore and give yourself a treat.

I read that in order to study the ducklings in all their moods, McCloskey kept a family of them in his studio. I can't do that with Rhinos and Elephants.

Or Giraffes either.