A Grand Day Outdoors

I'm a liar. I have no right to claim it's a grand day outdoors. I've barely been outdoors today. But it is grand. I poked my head out the door and saw this:

I wanted a shot with Julia and Sandy together. Sandy loves to lie in the sun. But she immediately hops up and comes to whoever is moving -- in this case, me.

"Sandy! Come back!" Julia says.

Sandy dashes.

I look closer. Julia is painting a balloon left over from her science experiment. She's cut up paper and odds and ends, and she's painting them on. Notice the bare feet. It really is a pretty day.

I should be on my bike, cycling through town. I should be smiling with the wind in my face. But after several months of chilly, and then cold, one gets used to hibernating. One is comfortable hibernating. Then at last one realizes one is too used to hibernating, and hibernates on warm days. This must end.
Remember the warm beach days?

Remember dark green ferns on porches?

Early crocuses drinking sunshine?

Sweaty gardeners drinking lemonade?

My Lady Banks Rose in Statesville. I do wonder if she's still there. In June she was such a display of yellow, and inside, beneath her arching branches, Julia and Sandy would hide in a fort of shade.

Some trees seem to shout! Beauty and light burst from their tips. This huge weeping cherry welcomed us to our neighborhood.

Soon, soon, it will be time for sun-warmed sand and cotton clothes. I need to stop hibernating.