Spring at Last

This week spring has magically appeared. The Bradford pears, after weeks of teasing us with plump little buds, have suddenly burst into bloom all over town. The barn wallows are starting to come back, only to find that pairs of purple finches have tried to take over last year's nests. I've been to The Bicycle Store to pick up a pair of knee warmers and a thin traffic-cone orange jacket for our evening hill training rides - they'll start very soon. I can hardly wait to start, although I know the first few times will NOT be fun, except for the camaraderie. Tomorrow we'll take an easy spin around the lake, and that will be nice.

Last week Roxy and I went to the dog park nearly every evening to take advantage of the warm weather. Roxy socializes or sniffs around while I walk around knitting an easy sock. It's been really crowded, and while I can watch the action while I knit reading takes up too much attention to keep an eye out for trouble. Not every dog who comes to the park has good social manners. A 3x1 sock on Magic Loop is an easy project to do on automatic pilot. A number of dogs hope that what I am carrying in my hands might be a treat. They come up to smell it, but so far none of them has tried anything funny. Roxy loves to go to the dog park, but she has limited interest in the active young dogs that fling themselves at her. One evening she had lagged behind me and did not know where I was. From the other side of the park I could see her looking for me, and helped her out with a low whistle. In spite of the 40 mph winds that day, our proximity to a noisy highway, and a big crowd of rowdy dogs, she homed in on my whistle instantly. This is the same dog who pretends not to hear me when she's running down the street. It's not convincing anymore.

Tonight a group of us are bringing dinner to Skyline Ministries. Skyline has a service every Saturday night and a rotating roster of volunteers bring a potluck supper for after the service. This time it's a group from Epworth United Methodist - most of the participants this time come from our cycling group. I'm bringing a turkey - that's what I promised Pastor Dale last time we visited about it. Sharon will bring a pot roast, Kimberly will round out my turkey dinner with side dishes, and Shana will bring a pasta salad with grilled chicken. It should be interesting. In case it is not entertaining enough, Shana and I are bringing Aunt Rita along. She should have an interesting take on the proceedings.