Yes the Easter bunny visited last night. I looked out my window this morning and my yard was full of rabbit tracks. It doesn't hurt that we had fresh snow so the tracks were obvious.
So I went out quickly looking for treats! Well, after looking all through the yard I found nothing! Well, maybe I will go back to believing the Easter bunny is a fake.
All kidding aside , we had a nasty day weather wise yesterday. It was dull, windy, with a little snow and about minus 2 C (28 F) all day.
It snowed overnight so footprints showed in detail.
Now with all the tracks, I think I had more than one rabbit. I'm guessing three as I've seen three together this week.
So footprints in the snow leave a story of what went on overnight.
This morning was cold minus 7C (20F) and clear.
April 10 was national sibling's Day. It's a day for us to recognize and acknowledge the relationship with siblings. 80% of us have siblings
I quite often write about national days. Some of them are very frivolous such as National Cupcake day. I happen to think that there is some very well worthwhile value to National Sibling's Day. I wrote a post about it last year.
The surprising thing about National Sibling's Day is that it's a very recently organized event. The idea was originated in 1997 and in 1999 April 10 was put aside for National Sibling's Day. Some states have declared April 10 to be a holiday
There is a similar day in India which has a much older origin.
I took the opportunity to tell my three brothers that they are the best brothers I could have ever had. I told them that they are each very different and that they have supported me in their own way. I thanked them for being my brothers.
It's also an opportunity to mend some fences. Not all siblings have a good relationship. Just maybe if the day is celebrated some siblings may be able to rekindle a relationship.
My two children have no relationship at all . They had a fight and since they are very good with words they said some hateful things to each other. With the Internet words can fly back and forth very rapidly and there isn't much time for reflection. . Since one lives in Chicago and one on the west coast, they have no trouble avoiding one another and the schism does not cause any awkward problems. However, as a family we would be much happier if we had a regular relationship. So today I emailed them requesting that the hatchet be buried.
A belated Happy Sibling's day.
Since spring is coming slowly to my world I thought of the question "What is Spring?"
Spring is different where ever you may happen to be. If you are far south spring may not be very noticeable. The temperature doesn't change much. Leaves and grass are green all year. If you are where I live spring comes slowly over a long period of time. Warming is gradual with back slides to cold winter temperatures. We have to get well into spring before much plant activity takes place. Today, several plants right beside my house are showing green shoots. Some trees are in bud but it will be a long time before we see trees leafing out. The ice went out of the river last week but all the ponds and lakes are still covered with very solid ice.
Then there's the Arctic spring. I've been through five of those. The light is bright...very bright. But there's no warmth in it. In late April there is some melting snow but it is in May that the snow disappears and the huge rivers lose their ice. It's a funny thing that the Canada geese arrive the end of April and sit on the ice of lakes. It's 3 or 4 weeks before they can begin nesting.
Now for some people spring is the return of birds or just one species. For other people it may be the awakening of plants. I like to go out in the woods when the sap goes up and you have the invigorating odor of the trees coming to life. For some people it's when rabbits and weasels turn brown.
Tomorrow morning the sun rises at 6:49 AM. I like to see mornings come earlier and earlier. Then I like to see the evenings get longer.
So we have a whole lot of nice things happening for spring and then wham! Things suddenly turn to winter. Later on this week I have a three day forecast of snow.
No matter what I like spring. It's a general move to warmth.
So what is spring for you? Do you have a barely noticeable spring or a long period of moderation? What particular part of spring do you like best?
Now I must apologize as I posted this when I was only half finished the post.
Mar. 24 2016. A late spring storm.
I called my spunky 89 year old friend the other night and she was a little down. I wrote about Dorothy and how a Least weasel got in her house and how she finally got it out of the house.
Right now Dorothy is facing some challenging problems. These are problems that come with aging. Her husband has been in care for three years with dementia. That's a big challenge by itself.
Dorothy has decided to move into a senior's residence rather than continue living in her duplex. She will be in the same complex as her husband but he is in the closed section for dementia people.
However, Dorothy wants to list her house on May 1 and has to clean it out. That's a challenge for most of us. Some people have stuff and then there's Dorothy. They had 4000 books! There are many very beautiful books.Her husband was a prof and Dorothy and environmentalist. Nothing was thrown away. Dorothy still has her ballet dance books.(half a shelf) Another full shelf contains her husband's journals.
So I was called over to take some of her books. I was polite and took 8 books. The only thing I could do was suggest places she might take the books.
Her sense of humor...there's a new thrift shop that's opened up a block from her house.
So downsizing and getting rid of personal effects is sad. Things that have all your memories are being disposed of. The final date is less than three weeks away.
So when I phoned Dorothy , I think she was a little overwhelmed by the situation.
Her comment was, "They're not making a backup pill yet so I'll just have to keep going." I like that term but I wouldn't take a back up pill.
Most of us will have to go through this step in our lives. It's not pleasant but should and has to be done. So although I'd like some books and would like to help dorothy get rid of some books, I'm in the same boat as Dorothy. I have to get rid of stuff.
I've always filled out my own income tax returns. My income tax situation is very simple and straightforward. Yes, there are very poorly expressed sections that cause me problems. One is what they call split income pension. It's straightforward. I transfer some of my pension income to my wife. Now when the tax guys get in on writing the form it suddenly gets complicated.
they don't use the best of terms. Pension transferee??? Who's that? They do make a mess of the form. I fool them. I get it.
This year they went one too far so I have to rant.
I always have paid my income tax with a check. After I finished my tax form I noticed that I'm not allowed to pay by check anymore. They offer 4 options. I don't do online banking. Skip that one. I'm not setting up a debit account. I don't want somebody having access to my account. The only option left was to get a remittance voucher.
Now you have to order a remittance voucher online or by phone. The Micro manager tried the phone and it didn't make sense.
If I set up an account I could order the vouchers online. So I set up an account and ordered. It would take two weeks.
Now there was no notice about this change. I finished my return Mar. 27 so if the mail works I get the voucher before April 30 which is the deadline. Some people may finish their return April 25. How are they ever going to get a voucher?
So I am very angry with the tax department for not advertising that checks could not be used this year.
The micro manager called some officials and gave them the gears but they would not budge on the way things were set up.
There's a saying don't argue with the taxman. It was impossible in this case.
Spring is a time of many variations that pull us up and down. There are nice times when our spirits soar and there wild times when we are saddened once again . We are looking for spring...actually summer. We are hoping. Setbacks drive us to nuts.
So today our weather was very dull. We had heavy dark clouds but no rain or snow. Our temperature was around 5 C(40 F) all day. It was windy and looked very unpleasant. When I went out it felt much better than it looked.
A few days ago we had clear skies and 10 C (50 F). People brought out the shorts.
So spring brings a wide variation in our daily weather. A cold front is coming in tonight and we may get some drizzle and snow.
The snow has disappeared except for the dirty remains of snow banks that are in shaded areas.
The grass is brown but if you look in sunny locations you can find some new grass shoots. Our grass slowly loses its color over the winter and in the spring is brown. It takes a while for things to turn green. I have bluebells along the east side of my house. Since bluebells are early they are about 2 -3 Cm (1 in) tall.
Most days we have new birds that arrive from the south. We've seen Blue birds, Trumpeter swans, gulls and a few ducks. From now on there will be a steady stream of arrivals. I took my bird group out yesterday morning to small area and we found 13 species of birds.
I'm also running a little project called Bird Species 150 which to find 150 bird species to celebrate Canada's 150th birthday. So bird reports are coming in steadily Check RDRN.ca and see what species have been reported.
And my bunny had a snooze in my back yard today and he/she is starting to turn brown. Richardson ground squirrels have come out of hibernation. The old males come out first and later on the young males and females. The old males return to hibernation in July again.
So slowly but surely spring is coming to Hiawatha House.
I've had some new visitors recently and some made comments. Thanks for visiting Hiawatha House and thanks for the comments. Maybe we'll have a conversation.
Today is National Crayon day! I sometimes have to comment on some of the national days that are observed from time to time. So I'll probably have half of my readers upset with me.
Okay, I'll admit that I'm not arty at all and that colors don't play a big role in my life so when fusses are made over crayon colors I have to say ,"Give your head a shake." Every year my Mom bought me a standard 7 or 8 pack of new crayons for the start of each school year. Then one year some kid had a 12 pack of crayons. The standard pack today is 24. I think you can buy a 64 pack.
Crayola makes a big fuss when any colors are changed. This year they are ditching, oops , retiring dandelion. Dandelion has been around for a long time and a new color is going to be added. As usual a big deal and process are made to name a new color. The new color hasn't been chosen yet.
Now the adult colorers (I don't think this is a word) may have something to say about my making fun of naming crayons. Apparently coloring for adults is a great activity for adults and seniors these days. In fact, I am somewhat interested in adult coloring for a pass time.
Maybe I could color inside the lines now that I'm a senior!
However, I think this day is a very blatant advertisement for a brand of crayons. . Looking at some of the different websites it's a very smooth skillful advertising ploy.
After all, they got me to look at it!
What about you? Do crayon names impress you?
