spring is here | Bertram's Blog

100 Days

April 10, 2026 — Pat Bertram

January seemed to pass so slowly, I was relieved to turn the calendar to February. If nothing else, it was proof that January wasn’t going to be the permanent fixture it felt like. Now suddenly, here we are, 100 days into the year. I haven’t kept track of the days and probably wouldn’t even have noticed how much time has passed, but I got a notification yesterday that I was on a 99-day blog streak. So today is not only the 100th day of the year, but also the 100th day of daily blogging.

That’s amazing to me, to have written so much this year. To be completely honest, I haven’t been able to write every day, but since some days I wrote an extra blog or two, I have been able to post every day, which counts as daily blogging, and certainly counts as part of the “streak.”

It’s funny how this blog seems to change. At the beginning, it was all about writing, then about promoting authors. Then, after Jeff died, it was all about grief. Once I bought my house, this became something of a gardening blog. Now it seems to be mostly a book blog, though I doubt that will last long. I’m still reading, of course, but I’m only reading the books in my own miniscule library, which means rereading and re-rereading the same books. Every once in a while, I think I should go to the library and pick out something different, but the thought of looking at those same shelves for the 1000th time changes my mind. (That number isn’t hyperbole. In the seven years since I’ve been here, I’ve gone to the library about 12 times a month. That’s a lot of library visits!) I’m sure someday I’ll return, but I can’t force myself to go back quite yet.

I look for books to buy, of course, but I want them to be in the mythological epic series category, where there’s depth and meaning not available on the first, second, or even third reading, and those books are hard to find. Some such books I enjoyed the first couple of times, especially when I was young, like the Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, but those stories got old. As did Harry Potter. Still, I continue to look.

The point I’m trying to make is that you can’t have a book blog without books, so I’m open to a new blog path to follow. Luckily, spring is coming. Oops. Spring is already here!! We are far from January!

Now that spring is here, I can go back to writing about gardening, assuming I can find a way to engage myself in the process rather than just going through the motions as I did last year. (I’ve already been doing a lot of work, such as weeding, digging up Bermuda grass, and watering, but nothing worth rhapsodizing about.)

Or I can continue to do what I’ve always done when it comes to blogging — just wing it. Write whatever comes to mind, and if the posts end up fitting in a category, that’s fine and dandy. If not, well, they still fit in a category — me. Ultimately, whatever the subject, it comes down to my thoughts and my life, even if my life is contained in the few thousand square feet of land I occupy.

But that’s all for the future. Today I am celebrating 100 days!

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Pat Bertram is the author of Grief: The Inside Story – A Guide to Surviving the Loss of a Loved One.

Posted in blogging, books, gardening, life, writing. Tags: 100 days of blogging, 100th day of the year, looking for epic series, mythological epic books, spring is here. 4 Comments »

Blooming Time

March 21, 2022 — Pat Bertram

It was raining when I got up this morning, which thrilled me, thinking of the great start it will give the wildflowers I planted last fall, as well as encourage the tulips that are breaking through the ground.

As I wrote that first sentence, the rain turned to snow, but I doubt it will cause any problems because the temperatures shouldn’t fall below freezing. And anyway, I’m sure the snow will turn back to rain shortly — it’s barely cold enough for it to snow (36 degrees Fahrenheit), and it’s supposed to get a bit warmer as the day progresses.

I used to dread such weather on a workday, back when I had to drive to work, because there was no way to avoid the poor traffic conditions. Luckily, I only have to walk two blocks to work. I bring dry shoes and socks so I don’t have to worry about sitting around all day with wet feet, and I have a couple of coats that will repel the rain. At least, they’re supposed to.

An umbrella would be nice, but even if the wind wasn’t picking up, I need to use my walking sticks on days like this. Not only will there by snowy patches to navigate, there will also be mud puddles, which is even worse. The soil here is clay, and oh, is that clay slick! It adheres to everything, too. I haven’t managed to get all the mud cleaned off my shoes from the last muddy walk I took.

But I’d rather not think of such things, and instead think of all the good this moisture will do to my water-starved yard. (We’ve barely had enough snow to wet the ground, and it’s been way too cold for me to supplement the natural moisture with water from a hose.)

A rain like this should help germinate any of the wildflower seeds, assuming the birds didn’t eat them all, which is especially nice since not only will it give the remaining seeds a good start, but I’ll be able to tell where I need to replant come May. (The last frost generally shows up the first week of May, so it’s no worth taking a chance before then.)

It’s amazing to think that, despite the snow, spring really is here! Blooming time won’t be far behind.

This photo is from last spring since blooming time is not yet here, but from the looks of my garden, it seems as if the larkspur is coming up already, and in a month or two, it will look like the picture. I can hardly wait!

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Pat Bertram is the author of Grief: The Inside Story – A Guide to Surviving the Loss of a Loved One. “Grief: The Inside Story is perfect and that is not hyperbole! It is exactly what folk who are grieving need to read.” –Leesa Healy, RN, GDAS GDAT, Emotional/Mental Health Therapist & Educator.