It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood ...

... a beautiful day for a neighbor,
Would you be mine?
Could you be mine?

Yes, that song should bring pleasant memories to some who were lucky enough to teethe along with Mr Rogers, Sesame Street and such. What has become of a generation that knew the classics and now resorts to Blues Clues, Dora the Explorer and such for a babysitting tool? Tsk, tsk, 'tis sad.

So, it really is a beautiful, if somewhat chilly, day in our neighborhood. March is trying really hard to make sure spring is sprung before April. The grass is trying to riz and the birdies are definitely on the wing. We have nuthatches, cardinals, blue birds, birds with Elvis hair-do's, various varieties of finches, woodpeckers and the proverbial crows/black-birds.

The squirrels are out in droves. I don't know what the term for a collection/bunch/herd/passel of squirries are, but there's lots. Nary a sign of chipmunks yet, which is good because that means no dead bodies on the back deck.

Cute creatures aside, though, we shall probably begin to see carpenter ants, the weird crickets that live here, tons of (shiver, shiver)arachnids, wasps and then the fleas and ticks will appear.

There are already little buds on the trees and the odd looking plants that grow in the wet-lands behind the house will begin spouting. They start out almost black, they are so deep purple, and then go to green and slowly unfurl until they are these big, leafy plants that the animals race around under. The ferns follow after the trees blossom, their fronds unfolding a little more each day. Aaaah, so pretty, no wonder we love our back yard!