A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

We are blessed to live in a beautiful corner of the country that has been having sunny, warm days and cold, clear nights. Weather to make a person forget about pandemics and social isolation. Today we took a drive up Agency Creek and what a lovely day it was. The purpose was to see if the American Dippers that nest along the creek were nesting yet. They are! And singing. And objecting when I got too close. The way they object is by singing louder. So loud even Johnny could hear this one!

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At another site, no Dippers were around so I crawled under the bridge and took a photo of their mossy nest.

A pair of Wood Ducks decorated the stream in another spot.

 A few days ago, on my brother's birthday, March 19, the first butterfly appeared on our farm. It is an Anglewing of some sort. I think I'd need a photo of the underside to have the Butterflies & Moths people on the web identify it. But it made me think of my brother's obsession with collecting butterflies and moths when we were kids. I did not approve of him collecting them but still followed him around when he did. I called his widow, Elladine, on Bob's birthday and told her the story of him chasing a huge black moth all around a park in Japan when Dad was stationed there. I was in first grade and Bob in sixth. He never did catch it. Funny how the first butterfly of spring can bring back old memories.

Rain is supposed to return tomorrow and I'm glad for it. The ground is so dry Johnny was able to till the garden. I can't plant yet because we are still having hard frosts at night. But oh how lovely the days are and how lucky we are to live where we can be outside enjoying them. Hope sun and happy memories shine in everyone's lives these stressful days.