This might be my favorite time of year. Yeah, I will probably feel similarly in about six months. The trees will just look different. I keep stressing myself because I feel like the garden should be all planted. My tomato plants in the garage look puny. Why aren’t they ready NOW!

On that front, I have to try to accept God’s grace. The fact is we normally would get a surprise freeze between right now and Mother’s Day. I have moved the four porch plants out of the garage and to the… er… porch, but I think every spring for the last five years I have had to cover them with blankets before Mother’s Day. In the past three weeks we have had only one night when it dropped to freezing. It was only supposed to drop to 37. At any rate, it didn’t stay at 32 long enough to damage anything. I even have peaches growing on the trees, which I did not expect to have happen with the early blossom.

So, God has decided to give us Spring early. The down side to that is of course know to all: ticks. I have already picked off about 50 of the evil creatures. I know precisely what the devil has sent them to do. They are working as guerillas to give me alpha-gal syndrome. I am on an almost exclusively meat diet, and little of it is poultry, and virtually none of it is fish. Have you seen the cost of fish lately? So far, so good. Fortunately, I can help Tiffany and she can help me when it comes to extracting the little bastards when they venture into the nether regions where we can reach ourselves. Such regions seem to grow in quantity as we get older.

However, back to the original point, I love this time of the year. It is not so hot during the day as to make Tiffany stand up and demand air conditioning. It cools off at night enough for a wonderfully comfortable sleep. Everything is growing like crazy, and life is all over the place. The foliage on the trees is already so thick that I can’t see to the creek or the ponds. I haven’t checked, but I suspect that the dreaded security lights at neighbor properties can’t readily be seen in the dark. The hummingbirds are back and there is a almost constant drone of buzzing wings on the porch, again. They are getting over fighting faster this year, it seems, as they realize there is enough food to go around. I’ll make sure of it. Migratory birds that are more temporary are also passing through. Not just the Canada geese that frequent the ponds, many of whom will hang around the area all summer and part of the fall (the first part, in case you were unsure), but also my beloved Rose-breasted Grossbeaks. They usually don’t show up until May, and don’t stay long, but I love to see them. When I lived in Rolla years ago I had quite a few sunflower-seed feeders, and I would watch fifty or more of them fly around getting some protein while I drank my morning coffee. Indigo Buntings will be here soon, I’m sure.

But, my favorite part is the sounds… especially at night. The barred owls frequently try to hawk their skills at cooking by asking who cooks for you. Granted, I don’t have the heart to tell them I do think I would like their cuisine. The mourning doves make their peaceful calls every morning and every evening. Tree frogs like the one I found on the asparagus-fern basket on the porch sing as well in the early morning and as the sun sets. Their serenade is a wonderful way to fall asleep. The crickets and cicadas have not yet started, but I look forward to them starting (hopefully) before Tiffany requires the doors and windows to remain closed for the AC. The fireflies don’t make any noise (but it would be cool if they did), but they provide the illumination at dusk for the whole orchestra. But for me, the star of the show is the whip-poor-will. It might be accurately said that I get a little teary when I hear the first call in the spring. I don’t even mind if they decide to sit on the porch during the night and sing the song of their people… er… birds. They have some serious pipes, but I’m ok with it.

Other players will come by for a jam session at times. The Great-Horned Owls are always welcome, and although our land does not support Bobwhites very well, I can hear them calling at times from the neighbor’s field.

All in all, it just makes for a spectacular time to be alive.