Thanks to Jan over at RevGals for this week’s Friday Five!

With the old adage “April showers bring May flowers,” let’s look at the weather and vegetation in our home areas to see if any May Flowers will be blooming.

1. What spring flowers and plants do you see? Or will see sometime in the future?

After thinking spring would NEVER come, we are getting into good blooming season! Right now the daffodils and crabapple trees are finishing up, the forsythias are done, and buds are setting on the hydrangeas. For the first time, our lilac bush has set some bud clusters.

2. What kinds of weather are you experiencing in April?

This has been a weird month! We’ve had snow, sleet, rain and 80 degrees and humidity. I never know what I will be wearing from one week to the next.

3. What are the stereotypical harbingers of spring in your area? How about where you grew up?

Snowdrops are the first hint that we will not always have “winter but never Christmas!” They are closely followed by crocuses. These are pretty much the same heralds of spring as where I grew up in Ohio.

4. What season do you like best in your home area?

I love autumn. The humidity has dropped and the leaves are beautiful.

5. What is sprouting or blooming in your life? What do you wish for?

Family-wise, both daughters are launching towards the next part of their lives. The Johnnie graduates on Mother’s Day. Reedy Girl heads off to college (more on that later.) I continue to pray that they will find joy in the little things of their lives, and satisfaction in the ways that God uses their unique gifts for the Kingdom.

Personally, I’m praying for that right place to work professionally. While overnight per diem chaplaincy contributes (in a very SMALL way) to our bottom line, it wreaks havoc on my sleep cycle. So I am waiting on something which is a little less life-sucking in the way of my schedule.