Dandelions

How do most people spend the early spring in Batavia? Why they spruce up thier yards, plant bulbs and make a general, post haste rush to the out of doors and into the reasonably seasonal breath of warmth. This is a result of the more than tedious length of cold, numbing weather with grey skies, dirty snow and piles on delivered but unread Pennysavers that lay on our lawns, long lost by the ever increasing cover of snow and ice. Until a couple of weeks ago that was the description of my yard in Batavia at least. An environment that is more connected to Siberia than most would want to think. It appears our favorite and most prevalent plant, the dandelion, is the one successful thing that stays bright green year round. Before the snow was totally gone, we had bright yellow flowers popping up all over..... and we poison them with weed killers because they dot our ever perfect, blade precisioned lawns. I welcome them. In fact, yellow is my favorite color and it is so good to see them and the other assorted flowers bud away and bloom as soon as the warmer breezes grace our tundra. You know this place, my favorite little city in the whole world, Batavia, is where I call home. My wife and I chose to move here to raise our children and to be in a wonderful safe and caring community. We have great schools, interesting things to do and wonderful neighbors. We could use a few more small specialty stores, maybe a nice department store and oh yeah...at least one more pizzeria. But this is my home and I love it. Call me wierd, but keep the rest of the world, little old Batavia suits me just fine. Recently on a short trip over the border to Canada, or as my wife and I think of it as, The Mother Land (Both or our mother's were Canadian), I realized once again how wonderful it is to travel so near and see so many wonders. As many times as I have peered at Niagara Falls or watched the birds and the black swans in Stratford, Ontario, I still love to get off the Thruway at our exit that says home...or in our case Batavia. It is with purpose that I write this today. First, it is my first BLOG in the Batavian and it certainly will not be my last, BUT...perhaps my second reason is more succint. My second reason is this....When you find yourself getting blue and grey over the snow and the cold. When you see the mounds and piles of dirt covered hills in our plaza parking lots. Even when the local Pennysavers are piled at the end of your driveway like they conveniently know where they are supposed to end up anyway in that little blue box, I remember one thing. It is the people here that are beautiful... It is the friends and the opportunities and the families. Give me my little predictable slice of the Siberian Tundra of Western New York anyday...Bright Blooming Dandelions and the smiles of my friends and neighbors are all that matters and BATAVIA is bursting with them. So a quick smile to a friend, a nod of the head and a wave to a person jogging and walking make my day. Oh and I lay off the weed killer and let the dandelions get big, yellow and bright.... it is the least I can do...