Vaughn Bell Journal - May 7

INSIDE

May 7:

Close, a sea of tiny sprouts covers the fern moss, each a couple of inches high,with exactly two leaves each. The spear-shaped sprouts grow taller, and from the cushion moss a small fern springs up. Several insects, many long-legged flying ones that land on the plastic and hang there, moths
and gnats. The brown spot on the fern moss has gotten smaller, in a few places the moss along the edges of the structure is browner, drier.

OUTSIDE

85 degrees, then cooler again, and lilacs in corners and edges of yards are blooming and sending their scent out onto sidewalks. Tiny planters and sidewalk pots are filled with pansies and impatiens.

A hot day hits and we are reminded of the city in summer, with the sun baking on the pavement. In vacant lots and the corners and broken edges of sidewalks, many things grow- Japanese Knotweed already sending out runners and growing up through the dead stalks of last year. Alianthus trees are also beginning to leaf out where they sprout in the sides of roads and along chain link fences. Dandelions blooming all over Boston Common.