I was out the door just before 7 am this morning. It was already 60°F. I wore shorts because I wear shorts when the temperature is above 55°F. It felt wonderful out. It always feels good to go on early morning walks in spring1. After being cooped up indoors, with the heat running or a…
This time of year I can often be heard saying, “You can’t appreciate spring until you’ve been through winter.” By “you” I mean me of course. I lived in Los Angeles for nearly 20 years and I missed spring there dreadfully because winter was nothing more than pages on a calendar. On my walk this…
There are few things as pleasant as spring afternoons. I was sitting out in the front yard the latter part of the afternoon, working my way through None So Blind (and thoroughly enjoying the novella, “The Hemingway Hoax”, which I had never read before). The temperature was in the upper 70s with a pleasant breeze.…
I was awakened from a deep sleep in the middle of the night last night by the first thunderstorm of the season. It was the thunder that woke me up and within seconds of its rumbling, the rain started to come down and the patter it made on the roof of the house lulled me…
I slept with my bedroom window wide open last night for the first time since last fall and it felt great. Eventually, it cooled down to the upper 40s, but the fresh air and the smell of freshly cut grass permeated my bedroom and I slept, for the most part, very soundly last night. It…
I took the first of my spring walks this evening. It was great. I got good weather on my birthday. It was just about as warm as it was in Orlando, Florida this past weekend. The temperature when I headed out the door was a balmy 81 degrees. Sometimes, I read when I walk. I…
It occurred to me that today is the vernal equinox, also known as the first day of spring, and what better day to start a short vacation than on the first day of spring! I’ve been trying to decide what to listen to this morning to get into the springtime mood. There’s Bing Crosby and…
I got home before 5 PM this evening. It hit 81 degrees here today and while it looks like it’s going to rain later (the year’s first thunderstorms?), I have the windows and door wide open and am basking in this early, pleasant spring-like weather. It’s supposed to grow cold again toward the weekend, but…
While it is not officially spring yet, it might as well be spring here in the metropolitan Washington, D.C. area. The temperature is going up to 70 degrees today and going up even higher to 75 tomorrow! The first bud are appearing on some neighborhood trees (not mine). It feels like spring out! If I…
It’s beautiful here in Arlington, VA today. Sunny and warm with a light breeze. The beginning of spring is here. Every April I read the same three books, Isaac Asimov’s autobiographies, starting with I. Asimov and then In Memory Yet Green and In Joy Still Felt. This has become an April tradition for me for…
…Crossing the Potomic river on the train in the early morning, you see the Georgetown crew team on the water, rowing back to school.
For the last couple of mornings, when I leave for work, I’ve heard this fast drumming-like sound, something that sounds like a cell phone on vibrate on a wood table. It occurred to me the other day, that the sound is, in fact, a woodpecker in my neighbors tree. I can hear it right now…