Can you build an emerald city with these grains of sand...

I know I've gone on and on about how it is spring, and I am pretty sure it is to convince myself of such. I think there are many of you back in the states who are feeling the same way, what with the snow you're getting. For us it is the 80 degree temperatures before sunup that are confusing our sense of the year. Some are filled with dread as they anticipate the summer, knowing that the heat will go on and on until November. For me, I miss the green shoots poking up through brown dirt and the blossoming surprises of spring very much. I even miss worms. No worms here, though I often give the slugs a friendly pet whenever we run across one. They are amusingly smooth, not sticky at all.

We were pleased this morning by a sprinking of rain. The kids and I dashed out to savor the last bit of precipitation; soon enough those clouds and blue skies will become a distant memory and the skies over the shimmering sands will stretch away white and empty. We hear on the radio that there may be more showers over the next 24 hours, though they accompany sand storms with high winds.

For us this translates to commutes being more dangerous, and our cars will be completely filthy. We are lucky to live in the Springs: it is green and well protected from a lot of the winds and flying sands. For the workers out in the desert, however, our concerns would seem petty, to say the least. They will wrap their colorful, ever-present scarves around their faces beneath their hard hats, bend into the wind and trust that if conditions get too bad they'll be brought in out of the storm. I know Mike's jobsite doesn't try to do any work with the 100+ cranes onsite when the winds and sand start whipping up and will shut everything down for safety reasons, if needed.

With all this, it hardly seems I can justify complaining that I miss spring flowers, especially with the festive bourgainvilla blooming it's heart out in the garden. (There are no yards, they are called gardens, regardless of landscaping or not. Ah, those Brits...) But I do. I miss the crocus, the daffodils, the tulips, the cherry trees showering their white petals over the lawns.

So it was with a joyful heart that I purchased these today:

They could have charged me pretty much anything for this pot of happiness.

Truly, I know we are lucky to be here in this beautiful place, together with our new friends and with the support of home. It's probably the slipping away of Dubai's incredible winter weather that's making me ache for the mountains and rains of Seattle.

Besides, the garden at Gecko House surely does make for some great photo ops!

*****

Thanks to Sherri for the miniature irises blooming photo and to Jean for the snow in your garden photo, and to Colleen for the American Robin photos...I am grateful for your snapshots of the Pacific NW in spring, little pieces of home...