Nice

Moon growing brighter and remaining aloft longer each night, air being pleasantly cool and scented with all the aromas of spring growth, frogs and night birds being in full voice, I now find the outdoors so alluring that I spend little time in the house for anything but essential tasks. The cat spent more of the night indoors than I did. She didn't even rouse herself from the comfy chair when the tantalizing aroma of skunk drifted by. I guess she isn't interested in seeing the oddly-striped kitty anymore. I was unable to see the skunk myself, of course, as even the brightest moon cannot give me nocturnal vision that acute, but I enjoyed the smell of it, though it made me crave a slightly skunky beer. Alas, that I have only fresh, non-skunky Sierra Nevada Porter on hand.

Dawn well on its way, but the day will be fairly cool. I think the weather has finally managed to synchronize itself with the calendar, for a while at least. It very closely resembles May at the moment. I hope it lasts.

Wild

The year's first dandelion has gone to seed on the front lawn. It's tiny plant, partly blown away already- little seeds drifting off to propagate up and down the block. The more lawn-obsessed of the neighbors are probably disgruntled at our failure to keep the dandelions under control, but I prefer the volunteer plants to the cranky exotic grass. One remarkably energetic weed has taken root in a sidewalk crack and, in less than a week, shot up to a height of ten inches. The slender blades are a quite marvelous, deep shade of green. Some of them aspire and some, mostly the shorter ones, are bent down. The whole plant is remarkably graceful, and I enjoy watching it sway and quiver as the afternoon breezes brush it. I can't believe so many people put so much time and money into maintaining boring lawns when plants this nice just pop up voluntarily. I expect that the cat will eventually chew on it, but she hasn't so far. Cats appreciate weeds more than people do.

Also, the golden poppies in the backyard have bloomed, near the dead cherry tree. There are about a dozen of them so far this year, all descended from seeds scattered a few years ago. I've expected the numbers to increase, but they haven't. I don't think the location is right for them, so I guess we're lucky that any at all have survived this long. I've never seen any golden poppies growing wild in the fields around town. They prefer lower elevations and a more southerly climate. It feels pretty southerly out there tonight, though- almost like a mild summer evening. I'm going out to enjoy it now.

I have to keep picking kitty hair out of my keyboard. I think the cat must be using the computer when I'm not looking. I hope I won't be getting any bills for stuff she's ordered in my name.