Spring

is not quite sprung, but it's peeking around the corner. The Dairy Queen is open (we have a little old-fashioned one, in a building just big enough for two workers, equipment, and storage--slightly larger than a garage). Some of the very early bulbs have sprouts up. And the wild geese are coming back. Three or four groups went over the house last night. I was out with the dogs about 10 last night and heard some calling and looked up automatically. It was a biggish flock--gaggle?--group, maybe 30 birds, in a long, pale, ragged line against the dark sky, and low enough that I could hear the rustle of wings. Beautiful.

This morning the sun is out, though the sky is grey, not blue. It's supposed to get up near 60 and rain this afternoon, then drop into the 30s overnight and snow. The puppy pen is never going to dry out... We'll probably have a drought this summer, just to even things up. It'll rain through April, then dry up until December. I have the living room windows cracked (because of the backwards storm windows, with the screens on the inside and the glass on the outside, you can only raise the storm glass a few inches on nice days until it's consistently warm enough to raise them all the way and put the screens down), so there's a little fresh warm air coming in, and Taenzer is lying with her nose on the windowsill, just breathing it all in.

And I need to go do the cat and go to the store before it rains. Go. Get it over with. Then I'll have the whole rest of the day to myself. Okay. I'm going. Really. Right now...