The month of Nay comes from Maia, the name of a Greek Goddess. She was identified with the Roman era goddess of fertility, Bona Dea. Alternately, the Roman Poet Ovid said that the month of May was named for the mayors Latin for "elders" and that June is named for the iuniores or young people.
I wonder if May is a bit late for spring awakening in Rome and so checked out its spring. It's from early April to late June. Wisteria is in bloom by mid April. There are azaleas and orange blossoms. Rome's rose garden starts to bloom by late April and continues to mid June with more than 1,100 roses. The cherry blossoms bloom from mid March through the first week of April. Rome's birthday is April 21 according to the ancient tradition that it was founded in 753 BC by Romulus.
Our wisteria buds are showing their purple colour, so we can expect them to bloom in the next week or two - a beautiful combination of sight and scent. This is a daffodil growing field on 9nth Street - I'm told it is part of the Pioneer Greenhouse operation.
Last week's Globe and Mail had an article about the stupid home vs. the smart home. The writer was pleased his home was still stupid.
I have a 'stupid' stove it only has knobs. It is without a digital clock, timer, read-out of oven temperatures, etc. It had some catastrophic failures - there still are electronic components. So I was most intrigued with a smart house, and how that might be going.
How do we know a smart home?
It has a Nest Thermostat. What a wonderful name for a company that makes smart home products.
What about a Wink home automation hub? That's also a catchy device name.
And then there is the Amazon Echo that controls other devices.
Don't leave out the If This Then That Rules - another control device.
The headlines that appear from a google search are also an entertainment:
Don't bother trying to make your dumb house smart
What smart homes are still so dumb
Are smart homes just stupid?
Will smart homes make us stupid lazy?
The dumb state of the smart home
My vote is cast without any experience whatsoever - smart homes are about witty names and clever ideas.
I found a patch of mascari (grape hyacinth) on Ninth Street on Saturday. And the second collage is last year and this year's Niagara Street cherry tree. What a contrast of blue sky vs gray sky.
