Duly Noted

Happy Things running in the sunshine baking (and eating) homemade bread and muffins big sweaters early morning walks and jogs my blue raincoat swimming in lakes MIKE dresses bulletin boards ripped jeans hip sunglasses coffee seward coop soft pretzels red vines fresh flowers playing scrabble getting a handwritten letter writing and sending a letter phonecalls from faraway friends rachel a good book riverview movie theater the farmer's market may day parade singing my dad

I have been counting the days until we are blessed with some extra light. Although spring doesn't arrive in the Twin Cities as sharply or dramatically as it might in, say, Pennsylvania or California, there are a few subtle signs that warms a Midwestern heart. For one, the seasonal hockey rinks turn into slush and mud (note, I didn't write ice hockey rinks...in Minnesota, hockey is hockey for peet's sake). At the offset, melting hockey rinks make me feel a little sad; the hockey season is brief! But, as the tough ground slowly peaks through, well, I'm reminded that frisbee, softball, and picnics are around the corner. What else marks spring here? The bald eagles return! Our downstairs neighbors, Sherry and Anna, are the resident bird experts so I need to talk to them about this! (Even Mike, Mr. Animal Behavior, admits their expertise.) Yesterday, Mike reported spotting two bald eagles swooping low as he was driving over the Lake Street Bridge. Then, I remembered