Home again

Ah, nothing like arriving home at three o'clock in the morning.

I flew out from Southern California Friday evening, had one layover, and arrived at a regional airport at midnight. Older Daughter had some errands in the city, so she timed them for Friday, hung with some friends, went to a movie, then just waited at the airport until I arrived. We embarked on the long drive home in the wee hours and arrived at 3 am. None of us got much sleep (Don dozed in a chair but otherwise waited up for us), so yesterday (Saturday) was a zombie day.

But I came home to a landscape transfixed and firmly in early spring. Things are green green green! All the wild plum trees are in full bloom, looking like fluffy balls of cotton on distant hillsides. Sometimes I call this cotton-candy season.

Last year, I noted the complete – and I mean complete – absence of wild plums for whatever reason. If these blossoms are anything to go by, that won't be the case this year.

It's good to be home.

Nest-building mode

A western kingbird landed on our deck a few days ago.

While these birds are common, I've never seen one land on our deck. Soon it became apparent he (or she) was in nest-building mode. Notice the white feather in its beak.

What was comical – and I couldn't quite snatch a photo of it – was how strongly the bird was eyeing the tattered outdoor carpet on the deck.

I half expected to see the bird return and try to fray the edges and harvest some threads, but it hasn't returned since. Presumably it found another source of soft fluffy materials to use in its nest.

Ah, spring.

Signs of spring

Despite being in the middle of a chilly spell (windy, scattered rain, high of 50F), spring is indisputably here. One of the surest signs is the blossoming of the arrow-leaf balsamroot.

These large, showy blooms prefer shallow soil and sunny south-facing slopes. During this time of year, they positively carpet meadows and light up distant hillsides with color.

Another sign is deer. They're everywhere. I mean, deer are always "everywhere" here, but this time of year they're more "everywhere" than usual, if you know what I mean.

No fawns yet, though. It's too early for that.

the oak trees are starting to bud.

But the surest sign of spring? Turkeys.

Yes, the toms are strutting, and you never saw a more puffed-up crowd of self-absorbed grandees than these boys. I mean, they know they're hot stuff.

They always look so affronted when interrupted, glaring at you before closing down their feathers and slinking away.

I caught this fellow displaying below our deck. I was trying to sneak up without him noticing.

He may have noticed me, but he had better things to do. There were ladies present.

The ladies, however, didn't seem overly impressed. (They never do.) They soon wandered off, with our boy trotting in their wake.

Undeterred, he followed them down to the road and commenced displaying again. I admired his persistence.

Despite my poking fun at the toms, and however indifferent the hens may seem, evidently it works. You can bet we'll have lots and lots of baby turkeys trotting around in a few weeks.

Ah, spring.

Rain and more rain

Yesterday (Tuesday) was gloriously beautiful: sunny, warm, high of 72F. We actually put the hanging screen door back on.

But all that changed today and rain moved in. Lots of rain.

Yesterday evening, while out walking Darcy, we noticed some fires burning as people took care of slash piles ahead of the weather. It was a good time to burn.

The sky remained mostly clear until early evening, when some clouds started moving in.

There even seemed like some cloud-to-cloud virga.

Late evening brought the sight of the slash fire glowing brightly.

The rain moved in overnight, and by this morning it was gray and wet. Rainfall has ranged from light to heavy, and it's nowhere near done.

But that's okay. Everything's getting a thorough watering. No complaints.

Weather whiplash

First we get snow.

Now we're getting a spike of heat.

I mean, look at this craziness. A high of 80F (!! – in April!) on Monday, then it crashes over 30 degrees overnight as rain moves in.

Looks like we'll be doing all outdoor work early in the day on Monday. None of us are used to the heat yet. But hey, at least I'll be able to dry laundry outside.

More signs of spring

We're all getting antsy to get some outdoor spring work done, but have been hampered by inclement weather, including a couple of late snowstorms.

But Don's been working on building some garden beds. They're in pieces now, but they're starting to take shape.

And yesterday, I noticed something exciting – garlic poking up above the snow!

This is the garlic I planted in the strawberry beds last October (since I had nowhere else to plant it).

It made my little ol' gardening heart go pitter-pat when I saw all these brave plants poking above the snow.

Yep, spring is coming. Don is itching to rip up the ground where the garden will be (we've already staked it out), but things are still too soggy to do that. Patience patience.

Bonus pic: Mr. Darcy dozing in a shaft of sunlight.