This morning there is beauty all around. The day is warm, there is a gentle breeze off the water, the sky is cloudless and the sounds, oh the sounds, are magnificant. The cry of the gull, the tweets of the birds flittering from tree branch to tree branch, the buzz of the bees.

Up on the front deck, a spring chicken landed in the chair next to me, coffee cup in hand, smiling and relaxed.

Other birds of spring are busy carrying nest building materials, disappearing into the cedar bows. Mr. & Ms. Robin are getting bits of moss from the watery rocky area just East of the cottage. Flying in a straight line, they make a bee line for their lair and return for another round of building material & nest building.

The humming birds are back, apparently chastizing us for not getting our plants and humming bird feeders out like last year. They seem to remember from year to year.

Yesterday I went for my first sail of the year, on Bill Tyler's boat "Little Pike", gentle breezes from the Northwest, sunshine, full sails, and just ripples on the water; quiet and intermittent conversation.

Last night at the Lutomski's for dinner which included the Theurigs. Walk back in the twilight, my "torch" used only to navigate the rocky ledge from Devil's Glen Road, torch off, then on again as Kathy heard some noises along our road. Something likely moving around, heard us, and mosied on.

This morning, coffee & conversation with Lutomski's & Theurig's on our front deck, then, after they had left, Kathy and I are off to buy some red flowers and fill our hummingbird feeders, summer will have officially begun.