Spring, Spring, Spring is here! Is there a sweeter time of year? I don’t think so. Brief, green, frothy, and glorious, Spring compresses her beauty in one short month in Maine. And that month is May. (When I went to college in Indiana, I was astonished by how long Spring lasted. I found the extended Spring to be a little too intoxicating, making it hard to study.)

First, I want to show you how those sweet little ferns have grown in just one week. I took this picture on April 22.

And this one on April 29.

They grow so fast. Sniff, sniff.

My yard continues to be a constant delight. Clif and I moved the big table to the patio. There’s no umbrella yet—it’s actually been rather cool, which I like. But we have chairs clustered around the table, and all we need is a nice warm day so that we can raise our glasses to Spring.

The seed in the backyard feeder is disappearing at a furious rate. Setting up housekeeping is hard work for the birds, and we are happy to provide sustenance. In the picture below, a hairy woodpecker (I think, but birding friends, do correct me if I’m wrong) comes to eat. I really like the angle of the woodpecker’s body.

Male goldfinches look especially fine among the red flowers of the maple tree. Can you spot Goldy? Should be pretty easy, even though the picture was taken from afar.

This will be a week of gardening when the weather allows—lots of rain in the forecast, which is good, but it does interfere with the yardwork. Just as the ferns grow at an astonishing clip, so do the plants in my garden. Most of the gardening must be done by the beginning of June.

The countdown begins.

But it’s not all work and no play.

Surprise, surprise, we did manage to slide in a movie—the creepy Hochum, featuring Adam Scott. (If horror is not your thing, this is definitely one to skip, but for readers who like horror, add Hokum to your watch list.)

After the movie, we went to Cushnoc Brewing Co. in Augusta for pizza and flatbread.

Both were mighty tasty.

Our friends Dawna and Jim separately decided to go out for pizza, too, and we were delighted to see them. Our server was more than willing to pull over a table so that they could join us, and we had a jolly Sunday evening of talk and pizza.

You might even say it was a finest kind of evening.

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Listening

It’s May the Fourth, so what else? Has it really been forty-nine years? Yes, it has.