please come in, we’ve been expecting you

It looks like April here will end up wetter and colder than usual.  The authentic

spring is still playing it coy, with intermittent teasing.  Monday she pranked us by

unimpeding the sun until it was 16 (61 F.), then sneaking in a storm with enough

rain to prompt me to move the kayaks away from the creek.

But she didn’t daunt Jude and me.  We took a bunch of brush like this . . .

. . . and pulled it out with the truck, turning it into this burn pile . . .

. . . and leaving this space:

This is where we’ll put the elevated walkway to the dock this summer.  We figured

we’d better pull the brush while the ground was still soggy.

There are other signs of the earth reawakening. Yesterday I saw 200 or so ducks

flying north in a ragged “W” formation.  The grouse are starting to mate. The males

seek dates by flapping their wings — slowly at first, then rapidly increasing into a

crescendo of energy.  I don’t know how the actual mating goes, but that seems like

a good start.  The first time I heard this, I thought someone was trying to start a

lawn mower in the forest.
Conversely, the power steering pump on the truck is boogered, making noises that

sound like barnyard calls.  It buk-buk-buks like a chicken in first gear, brays like a

goat in second, squeals like a pig in third and yowls like a cat in fourth.  I’m afraid to

shift into fifth.  It might attract hunters.