How not to write dictionary entries

"Y de paso, para que hagas el mandado completo, dile que nos empreste un cernidor y una podadera[.]" (Rulfo, Pedro Páramo, p. 20; my emphasis)

cernidor m. Cedazo, criba.

cedazo m. Tamiz.

tamiz m. Cedazo muy tupido.

criba f. Tamiz para cribar.

cribar v.t. Pasar por la criba.

OFFENDER: Larousse diccionario escolar, 1a. ed. (Though perhaps they get a few points for actually trying, since the DRAE has this to say: "La palabra cernidor no está en el Diccionario.") What can I say? It was $2. Only now do I see why.

Making up for lost time

Is it just me, or have some of the flowering plants been accelerated while others have been retarded? Today I saw violets and periwinkle (a.k.a. vinca, myrtle)--two flowers I associate with May or June more than April--blooming on my street. At the same time, the old Judas tree (a.k.a. redbud) near work is still only budding. Whereas some places are flooded with dandelions, I haven't seen a single Japanese or Dutch iris yet. Magnolias are blooming, but there's still nothing more than buds on the hawthorns and crabapples.

I was beginning to worry about the young trees along Argyle, but I noticed green buds on everyting but the catalpas this morning. There's still no shade to be had almost anywhere, whether in the parks or along the boulevards. The tulips are looking gorgeous, though; I'm glad they didn't suffer too much from the return of winter which took out the crocuses and seems to have decimated the daffodils as well.