The Shortest Spring

 

Spring just sprang away this year! So here's a visual recap of the few high points.

A bed of blooming cornflowers that I spotted in the local park had this beautiful and unusual shade of purple.

This time my favourite season was surely a blink-and-miss, such was the intensity of the sun. We tried keeping cool with some yummy strawberry and cream. 

The daytime heat is almost touching 40 degrees and we are not even in mid-March. 

But thankfully we managed a lovely outing last month when the warm sun still felt good.

Bracing for a tough summer ahead...

Chorchori Chronicles

Traditionally the Bengali staple mixed veg preparation called chorchori is supposed to have potatoes and spinach along with any three seasonal vegetables. As my mother taught me, there are five main players, hence the alternate name paanch-mishuli. So in winters, veggies like radish and cauliflower routinely make it to the chorchori mix, while in summers one finds bitter gourds, brinjals and pumpkins getting added.

Now here I was cooking chorchori in the rains, so the essential spinach was missing. It is anyway advisable not to consume these greens during monsoon as they spoil faster and host a few creepy crawlies. So I decided to try leaves from my moringa tree instead. Totally not kosher, as any Bengali mashima would tell you! 

Moringa tree in the backyard 

But while being experimental I discovered that the moringa leaves added an interesting nutty flavour to the chorchori. Also since they grow high above the ground unlike spinach, their leaves do not get spoilt by the rain. And, their health benefits are many. 

A closer view of our moringa forest

Moringa is a hardy tree, pretty resistant to the vagaries of the weather. Then why not give a modern twist to the traditional chorchori and enjoy it every season. If the spinach is unable to pull through our current climate change, an alternative is on hand already.

Winter Flora and Fauna

The cold has been pretty brutal this year, mostly because we have hardly seen any sunshine. What should have been a cheery first post in the new year actually got to the finish line only because I had done my homework in the last month itself, when the sun was still out and the year-end festive feels kept up my mood somehow.

Indian Pioneer butterfly 🦋

All the creatures you see here have long disappeared due to the intense cold, fog and sunless days. So have the flowers...

But just a month back the skies were so clear and blue, that it appeared every creature was in celebratory mode. Including our national bird, that gave us quite a few grand appearances on our evening walks.

Proud peacock 🦚

While our chrysanthemums were blooming, this fellow would appear almost every day to bask in the sunshine. But once the weather turned grey and bleak, the poor guy turned black and sluggish, trying to warm itself on our front porch.

Garden gecko 🦎

I was intrigued by the colour of its wings, and initially mistook it for a bumblebee variety. Till I discovered it's real identity and saw it furiously collecting nectar from whatever blossoms it could find.

Carpenter bee 🐝

Finally a glimpse of our Lohri bonfire this year to beat the cold. Was a very short window of relief but we made good memories.

Praying for the sun to be out soon and for the soul-withering cold to abate.

When Climate Plays April Fools

 

First day of April, balmy weather, and a relaxing Saturday.... just too good to be true! Well yes, as the evening seemed straight out of apocalypse. Read on to know what happened...

This was our garden in the morning, full of spring blossoms and produce. As the son had finished his college exams, he headed out to the gym in the early evening. While the hubby and I went out to wrap up some chores and pick some stuff. Dark clouds were gathering so I hurriedly put in an umbrella in my bag before moving out.

In the next half hour, we got caught in a furious squall with gale-force winds and accompanying hail. The hailstorm lasted for about 15 minutes, with icy stones pelting our spring garden, destroying our lilies and many other plants, while the lawn looked like there had been snowfall.

Hubby and I waited it out at the local bus stop, thankfully protected from the battering by the human wall standing around (we were seated). We later walked home through a steady drizzle and inundated roads. Hubby used the umbrella while I covered my head and neck with a stole. Both of us had shoes soaking wet when we reached home. Son booked a ride home on a bike to avoid the swirling waters. Daughter, who was managing the home front alone, reported mild indoor flooding.

The episode was quite a lesson for all of us. Climate change is real, and here to stay. Such unpredictable weather is going to be the norm rather than the exception. And it can occur any time, anywhere. So mentally we must be prepared and thinking on our feet all the time. Tough times! And yes, April Fooled by the elements.