Better late

One thing I hate about travelling in the demi-saison (besides the fact that you have to pack twice as many clothes, since you can never be sure what the weather will bring) is that, no matter where things are, I always feel like I'm gone during the most interesting time and I fear coming back and having "missed everything".

Case in point: This is the week when everything is finally budding. Only two days ago, monshu and I were lamenting that trees and shrubs were still bare of buds, but now that's changing rapidly. When I trimmed back the clematis, it seemed to shock it back into dormancy. But from the size of the proto-leaves we noticed last night, I expect it to be shooting out before the end of the week. The firebush is waking up as well, and even the smoketree and our much-transplanted dogwood seem are showing signs of life at long last.

Elsewhere, the forsythia is coming into bloom. Is this the latest that's ever happened or is that just the way it feels? I saw my first open magnolia bloom on Sunday and the tree across from the shuttle stop is only days away from bursting. Tulips are just around the corner. Hyacinths have been out for almost as long as the daffodils, but looking more scraggly this year as if the false springs really took a toll.

Also out for a while already: hellebores and periwinkle (though not ours), and I've seen my first dandelion. Bluebells have been sprouting for some time and are producing deep-purple buds. I hope they're still going when I get back from Arkansas. My sister says that I'll probably miss the Bradford pears when I come down this weekend, but the redbuds may still be at it. As long as I see some dogwoods blooming somewhere, I'll be happy.

(no subject)

Tonight I had basically three choices on the entertainment front (four if you include "watching crap on YouTube for hours on end while playing solitaire", but I was determined not to pick that one):

1. Finish reading El embrujo de Shanghai
2. Watch last Sunday's Mad Men
3. Watch Flirting

I'm very happy I went with (3). An absolutely beautiful film, well acted and featuring an astoundingly gorgeous 19 year-old Thandie Newton. I was very startled to recognise the male protagonist immediately, given that I know him only from this music video set to a gloriously cheesy song by Alphaville and which, by a strange coincidence, I had watched again only the night before:

Apparently reviewers of the time found it "a little dull" due to the familiarity of the plot and setting, but I found the general lack of melodrama and sentimentality refreshing and the small details very well observed. Definitely one to watch again sometime.

Actually, I did manage to fit in some of the Marsé as well after all. I've got only twenty pages to go and I'm determined to finish it before I leave town. I don't why, given its many virtues, it's taking me so damn long to reach the end. Although I love to savour the language, I'm doing my best not to look too much up. I can always read it again sometime if I want to, right?