We walked in Tower Grove Park and saw crocus flowers for the first time this year. We didn’t need to go so far to see them though, because as I was backing out of the driveway, I spied our neighbor’s crocus crop. It was even better than the ones we saw in the park. Spring is just around the corner.

On our walk through the park, I took time out to fly the drone for the first time this year. My reluctance to fly so far this year has been in part my cautious response to last year’s near fatal disaster, but it has also been rather cold outside. Too cold to operate the drone, which requires glove free hands, for my phone’s touchscreen. This flight’s planned shot was a cypress grove in the park. Located in a traffic circle, this near uniform group of trees has always supplied an eerie, completive and still respite from the other goings-on in the park. In the summer their shade is both welcome and cooling, but now on the cusp of spring I had expected that their limbs would be bare and offer an unusual lookdown image. 

Instead of the expected bare branches, casting crisp shadows, I was surprised to find that the cypress trees had a fuzzy outline. Examining the ground beneath these trees, we discovered the reason why, catkins, male catkins. A few of them had fallen. These catkins spread pollen, which fertilize the female cypress flowers that don’t even look like flowers, but more closely resemble cones.

In other way more important news, we now both have appointments for Thursday afternoon, the day after tomorrow, to get vaccinated. It will be the J&J vaccine, which is a one-and-done dose vaccine and we will have to travel halfway across the state to get it in Columbia. Earlier this week, Anne was speaking to Joanie, who had heard that some of her friends had been able to get vaccinated in Columbia. We signed up right afterwards. Anne got an email, her phone dinged, we both signed up and now we have appointments. We’ll join the swelling exodus of people from Saint Louis, who have to travel outstate to get a shot. Our Republican governor has been overwhelmingly focusing vaccination in rural areas, even sending 2,000 doses to a small town of 64. Road trip time.