There is so much exploding!

Buds and baby animals. Sap and slight greenness in the yards. Geese and cranes and swans overhead. Seagulls in town. Tractors on main street. “Girls” shopping at Palmer’s Who Let The Girls Out celebration. Busy Nurseries and greenhouses. Trash and yellow bags everywhere. A winter season of Dog poop revealing itself. Sporty cars let loose out of the garages. Bikes everywhere. Guys in shorts and flip flops. Air blowers. Lawn mowers. School Buses. Food trucks. Live music outside!!!! Airplanes flying all over the place. Very frequent sirens. Firetrucks racing around. Tennis courts in use. Baseball and softball games or practices every night. Hours and hours of both evening and morning daylight. It is 100% clear that winter is over. Summer hasn’t truly started yet but oh boy we are ready.

News is Exploding Too—We have had hard national news with war plans, and gas prices. We’ve had regional animal abandonment news. And creepy kid stalkers. We have had the Moon launch news. And then there is the Track Invitational. And the graduation announcements! And the golf course opening! And the Car Show. And the Stallions. And the Bull-riders. And the Vintage Show. And the Palmer Library project! And the Aviation weekend. And successful news about Bushes Bunches and Big Dipper and Sweet Gypsy.

Body Aches exploding also—It is hand and muscle time. If you garden, farm or landscape, then this is the seasonal time when your body begins the pre-summer seasonal aches. After a long winter, your hands are now doing double time picking up trash, planting seeds, pulling weeds, digging soil, spreading seeds. Likewise, back muscles are screaming at the loads they have to carry or push around in a wheelbarrow. And there are more than a few construction projects including fixing fences and switching tires.

Palmer Pussy Willow Time—Pussy Willows are bloomed out on the flatlands and have yet to bud on the mountainside. This is part of the dichotomy of Pussy Willows. They sort of symbolize the duplicity of the seasons. Hard and soft; Cold and Warm; Dark and light. The long slender stems of the woody willow are covered with furry little bundles of swaddled catkins just to keep the seeds warm. It’s a beautiful analogy and so obvious in our weather where it might rain, might snow, might sunshine, or might blow. The classic story of the pussy willow is too sweet to not repeat once more. “According to an old Polish legend, a mother cat was crying at the bank of the river in which her kittens were drowning. The willows, at the river’s edge, longed to help the Mama Cat, so they swept their long, graceful branches into the waters to rescue the tiny kittens. The kittens gripped on tightly to their branches and were brought safely to shore. Each springtime since, goes the legend, the willow branches sprout tiny fur-like buds, where the tiny kittens once clung.” :)

May is Upon Us—And with May comes the festivals, picnics, music nights, markets and the celebrations. There are memorial services, family reunions and graduations. It’s difficult to list all the various events but check your newspaper and social media for reminders.

Clean Up This Week—The Palmer street sweepers have been out in full force and now it is the time for Palmer humans to get on board. This is the time for picking up trash. It may not be your personal trash but it is our community. And the great winds in Palmer are nonselective. So regardless of “whose” trash it is, it is up to all of us to help collect it. The City of Palmer is encouraging everyone’s participation by offering a yard waste drop-off over at the MTA events aka Palmer Sports Center. This will be this week and free for city residents. Dumpsters are available for yard waste or green waste only. The official clean up day is Saturday from 9-12. For every yellow bag you fill, you receive a raffle ticket and a possible prize. Plus there is a barbecue at the library parking lot. The big prize of course is a clean town and everybody wins.

Barbara Hunt is both Palmer writer and artist. She works hard to keep the robust pulse of Palmer, Alaska. She shares the good stuff in the weekly Palmer Alaska Buzz Column in the Mat Su Valley Frontiersman and daily on the Palmer Alaska Buzz Facebook Group. Contact at bhunt@mtaonline.net or text 907.315.3222.