A taste of spring

I saw a post on facebook this morning that read "I swear 90% of the posts between August and April are complaints about the weather". Hyperbole aside, the trend is a real one, especially if the majority of your friends live in the colder parts of the country.

The majority of posts this weekend, though, were largely positive and hopeful. It's amazing what a little sunshine will do for one's sense of optimism, and the weekend was a beautiful one. We had a well attended and successful book sale at the library, my brother and his bride-to-be visited, there was a birthday to celebrate, we had a delicious brunch with friends, and I ran my first race of the year (in a sparkly shamrock skirt to boot).

I realized this afternoon, as I was thinking of all the delightfulness that was visited upon our weekend, that I don't often post weekend or weekly roundups anymore since I just rely on our weekly 365 post to catch things up. But this weekend, and this weather, was just screaming for acknowledgement, so there it is.

Today the warmth and sunshine continued, and the weather channel, if we are to believe it, promises more of the same for the foreseeable future. Calvin and I took advantage of it, cameras in hands, by taking our first walk along our neighborhood "bird path" (our naming) since some time last fall. It's a little early yet for real migrators, but some of our old favorites, like the bluebirds and robins, are just beginning to emerge from their winter clusters and spread throughout their spring territory, and we heard the calls of several birds we weren't sharp enough to spot, or fast enough to capture on camera. It's just about that time of year again.

by Calvin

House Finches, by Calvin

House Finch, by Calvin

European Starling, by Calvin

Eastern Bluebird, by Calvin

Black-capped Chickadee, by Cortney

Black-capped Chickadee, by Cortney

Black-capped Chickadee, by Cortney

House Finch, by Cortney