Howdy Hi & Happy Continuing Spring

Here we are (the royal "we"), Grateful as can be for another week. I say that to myself and anyone listening, each time I walk into the fitness center Monday mornings.

It is true. And I often get some remarkable sunrises turning east onto the 4 lane on the way there. Pretty easy to start the 1st day o' the week like that.

Here's a shot of a pink Dogwood in the parking lot, lit up by the dawning day. I like the high contrast bark. Zoom in if you can.

I had a great weekend with bonus weather (almost hot except for the balmy breeze). This is the real spring whammy.

It has been warm enough, long enough now that no critter or plant has any dread of cold. They are all going full tilt growth, eating, reproduction, & just plain living this old life.

One of my favorite facets of not winter is the 1st-thing-in-the-morning bird racket.

Best guess is they respond to the eastern light since the symphony doesn't start right on the clock (close to 5:40a these days though)

It generally opens with a solo.

One bird wakes up, stretches and goes to announcing its presence, territory & possibly intentions. That clear single call is very soon joined by more day flyers. Did Primo wake the others? I betcha.

This audio outburst builds like an atomic chain reaction of chirps and soon... it is a three ring circus of sound with so many varied calls going you can't distinguish one before another distracts your ear.

Totally glorious - I wait all winter for the first morning bird call and this is now the peak - the other end of the scale where the entire fledged community is busy at it. You just can't beat it for wonder & tranquility.

Also on the serene side of the balance are my dear deer. I feed 'em regularly. A few individuals are not so skittish when I approach showing both humility (no eye contact) and a pan of bright yellow corn. The rest of them run off and hide until I’m out of the way. Here's a few minutes of them chowing down. Dear Snack


I notice the new season on the plant side a little more quietly and a little more colorfully.

The plant kingdom season seems to change about every three weeks, With new stuff emerging or current greens doing changes like flowering or even some seeding this early.

Most annuals last the whole warm part of the year but some live their entire yearly cycle in about a month & they are done until next spring.

My favs are still the tiny guys - three inches or less. I've noticed tiny pinks, whites, blues (a few different shades), clovers and little orange colored 4 petaled blossoms. Though a bit taller, I also revere red clover and it is getting tall out in the field and looking good.

Now the desert of this meal. My body loves the early delicate smells on the breeze.

This last warm weekend I got several light whiffs of wild roses (mostly the whites first). When you haven't remembered this for a year, it is almost a carnival to get the sensation again.

Along with the roses, begins a week or two that constantly lifts my heart. I'm a fool for the scent of Honeysuckle. I totally love it. Lighter than Gardenias but in the same tribe. Sweet, sweet, sweet. Even in daytime that smell makes me feel a little eveningish.

Maybe because I used to fix some to my microphone stand every opportunity while playing music at "The Flying Bridge" in Ft Pierce.

We did 6 nights a week there for a while and I have some nice memories. (also some scary ones - it was a bar on the waterfront).

I have a shrubby tree a few steps from my deck that has a branch completely covered by these angels. It is a bit over my head but I can pull it down and stick my face in it. A few breaths and I'm dizzy. (Small slow inhales smell better than big sucky ones) oh yeah!

There is a dear friend who actually doesn't like Honeysuckle. She pulls them up out of the ground and sometimes even stomps them!! Regards them as horticultural pests. Must have been some negative history there.

I'll take all she sends. Heck, they only last a few weeks (but at the peak the scent is everywhere - sorry & apologies to allergy sufferers).

After the mass bloom, that is all for a year except for occasional individual outbursts.


I went to Clayton Georgia a few weekends ago for their spring festival. Clayton is a neat little town just a few miles from the NC state line.

"They" roped off main street and craft vendors, etc. set up their displays while the purchasing folk walked, looked and listened to all day live music.

It was quite an event and the weather was perfect.

I saw some very original stuff, one that impressed me as a brand new concept (I don't get around much) was framed pieces of colored glass with stuff embedded into it.

Looks like hot melty fun if you are into glazing.

The results were eye-catching and there seemed to be a common element - old keys.

Some of the sheets had half planters suspended in the frozen clearness with live green plants in the open part. Way cool

Some fired clay figurines also caught my eye.

I mentioned to the artisan at the booth that they all looked kind of worried.

She agreed. There's something about these little folk that makes you want to take care of them.



Driving to the Convenience center (dumpsters) last Saturday I had a bit of a shock when I saw a great pile of fresh cut trees.

Seemed a radical sight. There was a bit of a holocaust vibe to the visage.

"Them that did it" are apparently clearing the greenery off the hills that support the on and off ramps to the 4 lane.

I see great swaths of red clay where there used to be those little patches of forest you see between the tributary roads.

Here's a video. I drove all around the pile. Tree Pile



We had a really wet Wednesday. I rolled my office plants out for a holiday with literal life dripping out of the sky; they looked good when I brought them in.

It was also a great day for frog travel. They can visit, change ponds or just wander around without the risk of drying out.











More Later

Big Love