Growth!

Growth seems to be happening left and right here in the St. Charles/Geneva, IL area. Consequently, I've found myself on many occasions of late reminiscing of life in Wisconsin (where I grew up and spent much of my high school and middle school careers), only because it seems that the seasonal changes here are about two months in advance. Now, I've been living here in Illinois, about 4-5 hours south of my previous home in Wisconsin, for just about six years, and in all of that time I have yet to notice such a drastic difference in the seasonal changes. I'm sure you'd guess that I'm gonna imply global warming or some other such culprit at this point, but in all honesty, I know what the reason is. I simply spent far too much time living in more urbanized areas than my current stomping grounds. Schaumburg is primarily a land of copious cement structures, at least in the midst of the city, and although I spent a lot of time out in the local parks, again, the seasons didn't seem that different. Elgin was somewhat the same story. So, somewhere in the combination of my own busy schedules and living on the go in cityscapes, the climate difference really quite escaped me. Here I am, mid-April, and I am absolutely floored by this area's already lush spring growth.

Here's to lilacs outside!

My own garden is doing quite well also.


(romaine)




(beans)



(and guess who finally popped up!? Chives!)