Oh what a beatiful spring day! Two glorious days–April 17 and 18 —-and how precious the days are after our relapse into winter just a couple of weeks ago.
I have been sitting on the deck for two days…not the whole time, mind you, but frequently during the day when the sun is so warm and bright. I check out my tulips from my crows’ nest position on the deck. They had pushed through the soil in late March and then survived the snowstorm and the days we had single digit temperatures without getting frost-bitten or dying back. I am amazed at the little tulip bulb’s hardiness through all kinds of stress, icy blasts, and alternating warm days of sunshine. I love tulips and am hoping that all of the many bulbs I have planted will bloom like crazy in due time.
I have listened to the sounds of the Buffalo Bluff….Canadian geese still fighting over territory, wood ducks calling as they return to the river bottoms and the wooded land; I hear the Meritcare helicopter go over the house and spot it flying west. It always goes right over our house; it must follow the silver strip of Highway 10 when flying straight east. I hear the small planes flying in and out of our little airport to the west; one benefit of living in a smaller community is that I can identify who is flying by the sound of the plane’s engine. I know Tom’s the best because it has a real bass drone on his hydro-plane.. or what ever you call the kind that has skis and can land on water. IN the summer time Tom often flies down to his lake place during his noon hour and turns the sprinklers on or off!
I have spotted the cranes in their northern flight! I could hear their wild cries the other day and looked up to see a big flock of huge birds riding the heat thermals on Monday, April 16. It was our anniversary and we had gone to help our custodian with some church cleaning . Then we went to eat out and as we stopped later for some ice cream, in the asphalted parking lots of the West Fargo shopping strips that have sprung up so recently….I heard the cranes and sure enough—there they were–flying north over Fargo and West Fargo. They are such huge birds that you can see them plainly even when they are flying pretty high. Wow! is all I can say about the migrating cranes. I wish I could see another flock from my deck-sitting position these days.
Sitting in the sun has made me drowsy. I should go to town to the library and also to the new grocery store I love so much,but I feel droopy from too little sleep after a very late meeting last night. I might just have to drag the recliner out on the deck but I suppose if I napped awhile, I could get sunburned badly. It can happen even in April on a nice day like today. I better stay inside and catch a few winks. (yawn)
