Spring?

Here I sit watching snowflakes come down on Easter Sunday! I looked outdoors and my daffodils are not yet in bloom. I may cut a few buds and bring them indoors before they are covered as the forecast for snow is up to FOUR inches tomorrow!

It is 32° as I write this at 11 AM. 

Last evening my friendly neighbor brought over a blooming gift after he had finished the yard work. That was a nice surprise! I wonder how soon I can put it in the ground. My mother always did a couple of days after bringing them home from church.

There are five buds and another has opened this morning.

Yesterday my neighbor shared her pictures of loons. I knew of them  being here as I've watched them dip and dive and return further down the lake. I mentioned them to a neighboring lake resident who has also seen them at his lake and has heard them too. I have never heard them, only seen them. The neighbor who shared the pictures heard them this morning! I researched them several years ago and learned a few things.

“Loons return to northern forested lakes and rivers in the springtime, usually in April or early May.

Loons nest in quiet, protected, hidden spots of lakeshore, typically in the lee of islands or in a sheltered back bay. Loons can't walk well on land, so nests are built close to a bank, often with a steep drop off that allows the bird to approach the nest from underwater.

Loons are swimming and diving birds. They have very distinctive bodies: long and low-slung with spear-like beaks and blood-red eyes. In addition to their unusual bodies, they have an eerie, haunting call that some consider a characteristic sound of early summer.”