Our skunk is back. We can tell it’s the same skunk, because it’s a bit of an outlier when it comes to color. It’s not so much black with a white stripe as it is white with a black stripe, with the white extending right up the sides of the tail. Except, the white parts… Continue reading Smells and Scents
Tag: Spring
Winter to Spring
Last weekend, Anne invited Tanya and me to sit in the front yard of her house and sip wine. This surprised me some as the temperature only reached about fifty degrees that day and the wind was blowing. One doesn’t turn down such invitations, though, so I pulled on my winter jacket and gloves and… Continue reading Winter to Spring
Redtail and Cygnets
A glance out the kitchen window, Tuesday morning, revealed high drama underway in our back yard. There on the lawn was a hawk the approximate size of the mastodons whose bones are on display at our natural history museum. Not only was the bird large, but it seemed to have at least four wings, all… Continue reading Redtail and Cygnets
Blossoms, Birds, and Quarters
You never know what lies ahead in the spring. Around the neighborhood, people with broken magnolias have chosen not to remove branches that are still in any way attached to the trees. Massive limbs resting on the ground are in full glorious bloom—bloody, but unbowed, to use Henley’s words. Who knows what the owners will… Continue reading Blossoms, Birds, and Quarters
Buds and Allelujas
Lawn extensions around town remain strewn with branches brought down by this winter’s destructive combination of ice, snow, and wind. The branches come from all kinds of trees, including ornamentals. Weeks ago, Anne handed me some downed pieces of her juneberry and, after some time in a vase of water, they bloomed. It was a… Continue reading Buds and Allelujas
Hot as Hot
“HOT AS HOT” was the TV weather report this morning. The map behind the cheery meteorologist proclaimed “SEVERE STORMS.” We woke to rumbling thunder. The sky got darker and darker, till it looked like the last moment of twilight before night falls. The dog was frantic. He always is when there’s thunder. He… Continue reading Hot as Hot
Livin’ Large
At last, it’s the time of year for Rascal to loll in the grass. He’s been licking grass for some weeks now. He feels that water is at its tastiest when licked off grass. In fact, he’ll spend long enough licking grass that, as far as you can tell, he’s trying to find which single… Continue reading Livin’ Large
Thaw-Freeze, Spring, and Sunshine
It has been exceedingly slippery around here lately. We seem to have the freeze-thaw cycle backwards. We finally had the January thaw this month, but then we had freeze. And snow. So, the first layer on the sidewalks is ice–bumpy, hard to walk on, and slick. Walking on it, because dog, requires concentration and… Continue reading Thaw-Freeze, Spring, and Sunshine
Late Snow
We had a late snow this week. Television meteorologists had been daring to hint that we might have had an early last snowfall, and then, late in April, along came this winter storm. A couple more inches of snow is no big deal after months of wielding a snow shovel. We didn’t even need… Continue reading Late Snow
Poke, Thump, Blast, and Wow
The sound track for this week was a series of graphic-novel sound effects: poke, thump, blast, wow! The poke was our second CoVid19 vaccination–hurray! We even got pins afterward that say “Victory within Our Reach.” They feel like the stickers available at polls on election day that say, “I Voted.” They proclaim the wearer a… Continue reading Poke, Thump, Blast, and Wow