those other creatures waking up

The sun shone this weekend – the first real good weekend in a few months. Hopefully it is the harbinger of many more sunny weekends upcoming. It passed 70 for the first time for both Saturday and Sunday, which I think is just the right temperature. I could use more warm days like these (and today). The type of days that I don’t need to wear a jacket if I don’t want to wear one. The type of days that says shorts are required. The type that makes me want to feel the warmth and wind on my skin.

The warm weather brought out all the birds this weekend. In years past, those large blackbirds / crows/ whatever dominated the area, but now it seems that population is diminishing. The cardinals, bluejays, orioles, (no, not the baseball teams), and other smaller birds are making a comeback. I could tell they were around because I could hear them all day… and of course they left presents on top on my car. Combined with the pussy willow that likes to shed this time of the year and overhangs the driveway, my car was a mess.

On Saturday, driving back from the mall, I passed by the local university. Up ahead on the road, I was surprised to see an adolescent deer slowly crossing the road. It took a glimpse at my approaching car, then quickly crossed the road and disappeared into the trees. I think it was lost or something. I’ve always thought they were nocturnal, at least around here, so it caught me by surprise.

It’s good to see the world around here becoming lush again. I guess that means those frisky raccoons will return at three in the morning. And those squirrels running on the roof again. And allergy season of course. Who am I kidding? I’ve missed those other creatures.

Except those mice for some reason.