This week I’ve been home recovering from a procedure to break up some kidney stones I have. I now have a small collection of stones to take in for analysis and I’m recovering pretty well. I’m certainly doing a lot better after this procedure than I was last fall when I passed one stone unexpectedly. In between naps I’ve had a chance to see our ‘wildlife’ wandering about. There are a couple of rabbits that seem pretty comfortable with our yard. A little too comfortable, I’m pretty sure I saw one over nibbling on some flowers I planted a couple of weeks ago. However, they are also pretty timid and if I get close to the window they run off. I’m pretty sure these are the grown up baby bunnies that hopped around the yard a couple of months ago.

We also have a lot of lizards hanging around the house. I sometimes feel like I have a lizard ranch somewhere close by. They certainly like to climb up the house to find warm spots. So far we’ve seen one hanging from the screen on the first floor and second floor. At least I havent’ seen any in the house and hope to continue that trend. In the evenings, when I drive up our long driveway I’ve counted as many as six lizards scurrying off to the side of the road as I drive up to the house. Today I was looking out the kitchen window and noticed one sitting on top of our log pile. He appeared to be doing pushups and then settled down to lie in the sun and look over the yard. A quick search in the internet and I found that lizards do perform pushups as a method of marking territory. It is done by male lizards and shows that they are strong enough for the females and can keep other lizards out of their area. After reading this it reminded me that I had seen some of the lizards chasing each other a few weeks ago. So long as the lizards stay out of our house and eat insects I don’t mind them. Although the lizard hanging off the screen for the second story bathroom was a bit much.

The sun is out this afternoon, a nice change after a gloomy day yesterday. Although since I slept most of yesterday I can’t say that I missed much. The temperature is about right, in the 70’s. And it’s cooling down at night which makes for good sleeping weather. A light breeze whispering through the trees today. I was giving direction to my son today and some tree branches to trim, it felt good to stand in the sun and feel the warmth on my back. While the sun felt good I am hoping it doesn’t warm up too soon. For me, this is about perfect weather, not too warm, not too cold, just right with a touch of a breeze and humidity. Having higher humidity this week is wonderful, it’s nice to not have painful sinuses this week.

I was pleased to see that the bean plants are continuing to grow and there are possibly some new sprouts for some other seeds I planted. Although they could be weeds that are enjoying the extra water I’ve been putting on the bean plants. The grass is still alive, yay, and some of the grass seed is also coming up. It’s fun to see things growing in the yard. So our spring continues.

Along with everyone else I’ve been seeing the news lately and it never seems like there is good news. A bombing in Boston, an explosion in Waco, a do-nothing congress and lots of strife reported. And yet, for most people, life is quiet, families are having time together, and things keep going. I decided that I want to do some more writing on-line to try and get my writing in somewhat better shape. And I want to paint scenes with words to remind people that in spite of all of the bad news, the arguing and disagreements that there are still things in life that stick around long after the headlines have moved to the latest tragedy.

Today it was very windy and dry, which is making for uncomfortable sinuses for myself. But sitting here typing this, I can hear the wind in the trees, the leaves stirring around as each pass of wind finds its way through. I went outside earlier and just stood, listening to the trees and thinking that this is what trees would sound like if they talked. The leave shuffle together and in strong gusts they shift and brush against each other making a soft sound that seems at odds with the strength of the wind. I shift my attention over to the large pine tree on the edge of our driveway and hear the wind whisper through the needles. This sound is more like the wind itself talking to the trees, with more of the air and less of the tree in the sound that finds its way to my ears.

I walk over to turn on the sprinkler for the flowers I planted a week or so ago. For those in northern climates, patience, spring is coming, it’s found its way here in the southern part of the country. Even though I watered the flowers a couple of days ago the ground is dry. Amazing what an 18% humidity will do to suck the water out. I turn on the sprinkler and grin as it puddles up and runs through the little canals I dug out to spread the water out. Even at my age it’s still fun to play with water although I’m much more aware of the cost and scarcity of it in this desert like area. In our new house we plan to keep our watering to a minimum so I have the flowers and some grass that we will keep watered but everything else will have to fend for itself.

While the sprinkler is running I go to check on the soaker hose I’ve set up for the grass sod we are trying to grow. I go ahead and run that for a few minutes and then adjust the hose a bit. I’m experimenting with growing some beans and so the water should reach that area a bit better. I suspect I’ll end up feeding the rabbits and squirrels that hang around but for right now it’s fun to see a couple of bean plants poking up. Maybe I’ll get lucky and even get one or two bean pods, will have to wait and see.

I’ve let the water run for a while so I turn off the sprinkler and come back inside. But with the windows open I can still hear the wind moving the leaves. When the sun sets the wind dies down but I enjoyed the weather change and a chance to hear the trees ‘talk’. I will be glad when our humidity gets back up above the teens though.