I couldn’t hear him clearly when Mr. bounded into the house and yelled up the stairs to me, “I heard a Robin!”
And Slam the door went closed before I could respond. Back out the door, Mr. flew.
I watched him from the windows, as he wandered about the yard, looking up at all the trees.
When he came back in, he had that, I’m gonna grill steaks on the grill today grin on his face.
Smiling he said, “Spring is here, I heard Robins singing. I couldn’t find them, but they’re here, I recognize their song. It’s so nice out today, do you want to go for a bike ride?”
Me: “Well…are you sure it’s warm enough to go?”
Mr: “Yep, I’ve been outside all morning in a light jacket.”
Me: “Sure, let’s go. I’m a bit scared since I haven’t been on the bike since the crash last summer. But, if the roads are clear of snow and ice, I’m all for it.”
Mr: “There’s some sand on the side of the road, but otherwise all clear.” With a smile and a nod from me, he said, “Great, I’ll pump up the tires and let’s ride over to see how the bridge construction is going.”
Me: “I’ll bundle up and I’ll be ready to go in a couple of minutes.”
While he pumped up the tires, I checked out the roof lines on the house – NO MORE SNOW and ICE! Yay, it’s finally time to put away Christmas decorations and make it look like Spring, right?
I looked down at our little excited to be outside pup, and said, “Sorry, Copper, you’ll have to stay here this time.”
We jumped on the bikes and off we went – down the road – riding with the cool breeze on our faces and hands. 47 degrees and sunny blue skies kind of day. We looked normal, right along with the Harley motorcycle riders. We both had two coats on each and gloves on our hands. It was actually quite chilly but tolerable. We made it to the destination site and stopped to take a few photos.
The bridge has been out since last summer when it was shattered by a truck that weighed too much went over it. It’s going to be so nice when the construction is done. A lot of traffic travels here. It’s hard to see in the photos, but 4-5 tiny parachutes are up in the sky too – the sky-jumpers were busy all day. With above freezing temps here in Wisconsin, we’re all out and about – blue skies the limit.
I’m always perplexed at the piece of equipment they raise up off the ground when they’re not working? What is that thing anyhow? It must be important?
We climbed back on the bikes and headed home. My hands and toes were numb by the time we got back. Yikes…maybe we’ll wait until it gets a bit warmer, say over 50 degrees before we go again? We warmed up with a cup of Matcha and then headed back outside to the deck to enjoy the rest of the sunny afternoon.
Even the pets wanted to check out our dreadful looking worn and torn-up deck. Winters are hard on it. That very expensive deck sealant Mr. put on a couple of years ago was a huge waste of time and money.
Copper, of course, was first to join us. He hasn’t seen this side of the yard in months.
Dessy was momentarily brave – she looks like she wants to be outside, but once she makes us let her out, she wants to head back in. She’ll warm up to hanging out with us for longer spurts later in the spring.
Tizzie hops right outside and then hides under the chairs. With the first gust of wind, she begs to go back in.
Me and the Mr., with proper clothing coverage, aka, windbreakers, hats, no gloves, are content with the warmth of the sun. As long as it isn’t too windy we’re set to sit and enjoy being outside for as long as possible.
It was a gorgeous day. We sat on the deck, tasted wine, had some snacks, and enjoyed the view of the melting snow and the blue skies.
And our morning’s hope of seeing a robin came true. Not just one, but two. One is by the tree.
Robins migrate and show up here in Wisconsin when the temps hit in the high 30’s. They want to be here as the ground thaws and the angler’s worms, aka, earthworms are flushed out of the ground with the first rains of spring. Until then, they eat the remaining fruits left on the trees from fall.
We watched and listened to them sing. Emily Dickinson understood the thrill of seeing robins in March.
Emily’s poem about Hope is one of my favorites.
Oh, and yes, Mr. cooked us steak and asparagus on the grill…it was the perfect meal for a perfect spring day!
Post Inspiration – Spring-like weather, the arrival of Robins, and Sunday Stills – Spring has Sprung
PS – What do you do when the weather warms up enough to be outside? Do you like Emily’s poems too – which one is your favorite? What temps do you consider warm enough to be out bike riding?
A post of hope. Wonderful pictures. Got rain here today but hopefully this week…a walk in the park.
Thank you! I know how you love hope. I hope you do get out and walking this week. You’ve been waiting patiently for a long time. I can’t wait to see all the pictures you’ll take!
You’re looking warmer there. Spring is such a flirt. Grilling steaks out on the grill is the best. Biking outside in the sunshine is great. Life is good, eh?
Yes, we’re finally seeing bits of grass instead of all snow! Life is good, yes, it is. Thanks for stopping by to share your thoughts, Ally – I always enjoy hearing from you!
Happy Spring! I actually enjoyed both poems because they are light and airy, and filled with promise of Springs warmth from a little Robin’s song!
I simply can’t wait to go walking outside with the sun on my face and without the wind knocking me down. LOL!
Thank you, Beckie. We all crave outside time, I hope you get your chance soon! Hey…while I’m thinking of it, share the link to your blog? When I click on your name it takes me to a blog that has posts from 2016? Is that correct?
That’s my about page? right?
No, sorry – I totally missed looking at your sidebar, that has more recent posts! Yikes, I need to pay attention more!
LOL! I got to thinking, “Oh, no. What did I do wrong this time?” I was looking at my site to see what I did, and couldn’t figure it out. Hahaha! 😅
Sorry to create undue worries! Glad all is working well!!
No worries. All good here.
Have a great day!! 🤗
Putting away the last of the Christmas decorations: the sure sign of Spring 🙂
The brave birds…the next sign!
You know this kind of deal well, don’t you!? 🙂
Yes 🙂
Very clever of them to hoist it up like that. I can’t tell what it is, but they probably do that to keep kids from hopping on board, starting the engine, and driving around the neighborhood, wreaking havoc and destruction as they go.
That makes sense. This is the second bridge that company has worked on and they did the same thing with the little machine. It must be an important piece of equipment.
Hubs is a happy camper – that’s a great photo! It’s spring, but not too warm here. I went for a long walk with the pup, but that’s about it. Good to see the snow receding.
Yes, he is. I love it when I catch him smiling. I bet Maddie was very happy with the walk. Thankfully the snow is continuing to recede. I think of you often and your words of wisdom to me as we were about to go on the trip, “everything will be just fine.” And it was and is, so far anyhow!
I’m so glad you had a good trip and came home to a normal setting.
Other than the already damage ceiling in our entry way, we had no other flooding. So far. If we don’t get a bunch of rain, we should be good to go for spring.
Nice photos Shelley, bye bye snow. They haul the expensive stuff high in the air to keep the idiots from stealing it. I wonder how much trouble the truck driver was in for crushing that bridge!
Thanks, John. Smart construction crew to do that then. If they were able to catch the driver, that I’m not aware. It was a really old bridge, due for replacement in a couple of years. This just expedited the inevitable. Oy joy on the property taxes that went up too. Sigh…
What is more uplifting than a sunny day in spring with the snowmelt in full force? We flew home yesterday to a similar day in Michigan. It was so nice to be home AND in the sun. I’m not ready to ride my bike yet (brrr), so I think you’re brave, but I am thrilled that my normal walking route is melted and I can get back outdoors without fear of icy patches. Next I’ll be looking for the redbud blossoms…those are my favorite sign of spring.
Yay – so glad to see you back! I hope you had a wonderful vacation and that your checked luggage made it there and back with you. That’s awesome that your walking route is ready for your return too. Redbud blossoms…I’ll have to look those up, I’m not familiar with them. But they sound friendly for Spring! Happy Sunday!!
Thanks! We had a great time, and we were ready to be home again.
I think most of the trees around us are Eastern Redbuds. They’re really gorgeous when they bloom. I’m sure you’ll recognize them if you google what they look like. 🙂
Yay! Glad to hear it was a great vacation. I think I’ve seen those now that I googled them. There are a lot of them in the town my daughter moved to. They are very pretty!
Shelley, you were pretty brave to go bike riding when it was still in the 40’s. I usually wait until the 50’s roll around so that I don’t have to wear two coats! As I type, my bike is in the shop getting new handle bars, a rear view mirror, lights and a tune-up. Exciting stuff, but it will be even more exciting when I can get out on a trail. I hope we are done with the S-word and it’s nothing but sunshine and warm-ups going into April. Happy Spring to us!
Yeah, in retrospect it was a tad chilly. It was a good kick start to the season, and we’ll be wiser to wait until the 50’s next time. Yay – I’m so excited for you to get out on the trails. You and I both know we’d be fooling ourselves if we don’t see 3 snows on the robins’ tails. But maybe, just maybe, February’s records took care of it and we’re good to go without more “s”!?! I’ll keep hoping for that. Happy Spring to you too!
Shelly, you sure have a lot of blue sky and the surrounding activities to make it look like spring, but all that snow still!! I guess you all get used to having it on the ground and still able to wear a light jacket! I’m cold just looking at your beautiful photos! My hubby will grill in any weather condition, too! Thanks for sharing with Sunday Stills this week!
Thank you, Terri. Yes, we still have a lot of snow. We’ve got bets on how long it will take for it to melt in our yard. Mr. says June. Sigh… Yay – grilling in any season is a must in our family too. Enjoy your week – I’m looking forward to seeing your tropical photos too!
Such a beautiful blue sky while you were out riding, but that sun didn’t warm you up any, even with two coats on. Copper looks ecstatic to once again claim his turf. Even though it is still cold out, that angle of the sun and the brilliant sky gives promise of better days to come.
Yes, it was a nice blue sky. Copper is happy to have a different view of the yard. He’s happy to have a place to do his job other than a 6′ square too. Yes, spring is just around the corner after 3 snows on the robins’ tale, right?
Yes, the possibilities are endless for Cooper now. That’s a first time for hearing that expression for me Shelley. Actually our robins have been around for a while. I had a problem with robins building nests in the elbow of my coach light out front – it isn’t pretty – it is over the mailbox and when I open the front door to get the mail, a pile of old grass, mud and sometimes bird plops greets me. I have to stuff a plastic garbage bag and put it in the elbow so they don’t build there.
I heard the three snows on a robins’ tale my whole life. It always seems to apply here, so it seems. Robins’ nests can be messy and they can place them in annoying spots too. One year my inlaws had a robin that built under their deck and he would sit on the railing and jump at their window non-stop until he died. It was really sad. Way to figure out a plan to keep the robins from building there.
Well, it could build it anywhere else, but this looks filthy to be honest and the robin gets mad if I tear it down and it will rebuild it the next day. I also have sparrows building nests in my metal rollable shutter box. I had to have the handyman install a mesh over top and the blind must remain stationary now. It is the bathroom blind. My friend documented robins with their nest and sent pictures every day which I would post and then one day a snake got the hatchlings (but one). The nest was on a low railing on her back porch. She saw the snake, got a picture (large black snake) and she wrangled it with a rake to save the one baby. I had posted pictures from the eggs through the 13th day (they usually fledge on day 14). Very sad.
Birds should just build nests in trees, don’t they know that ;-). Snakes will get them anywhere though, we have that same problem here. We have one that has lived here all our years here and he/she makes the rounds, so the skin layers left behind reveal. EWE…thanks for bringing up snakes, too. Hope the birds stay clear of your porch this year!
It was sad with those poor birds. Yes, snakes shedding their skin (ewe) are worse than getting burned in the tropics! I’ve had a few sunburns like that when I was young and was told by my mom my skin would look like shoe leather, but, of course, thought I knew it all. In those days the articles about the sun’s damaging rays were not so prevalent as they are now. I didn’t lay out all the time, it was vacations where I got burned and I got smart before I did any damage.
Snakes. Enough said. Ewe is right. My mom warned me too, but of course, I know best. I should’ve been smarter, but I also know I have some great memories of each moment of burn – and I really wouldn’t trade them, and each freckle reminds me of them. Then there are days when I see someone’s skin free of the sun freckles and sigh. I wear sunscreen more faithfully now. Great to hear you don’t have any skin damage! Hope you wear your sunscreen on your long walks too!
I usually go early in the morning Shelley – I should wear it when I am going on a longer walk. Last year, I had just gotten the DSLR, first time out, and I went to Lake Erie Metropark. I was walking along the shoreline where they have these huge boulders, a beautifully sunny day … I was intent on using the camera and holding my arms up in the air taking pics … the tops of my arms were facing the water. I never gave it a thought about the sun’s rays glinting off the water. I was home about three hours and my arms started to tingle. I got a nasty burn and that was maybe 11:00-ish. I bought prescription sunglasses last year as I didn’t like the Solar Shields I was using as they messed up my peripheral vision. For a short drive, I didn’t need sunglasses, but longer trips and I have heard a lot about the sun damage to your eyes in recent years. I always wore contacts so had dark sunglasses on, but stopped wearing contacts when I began working from home.
Way to stay protected. In the past 3 years, it is the first time I’ve had prescription sunglasses. I love them. Wish I’d gotten them earlier. I don’t care for how they make it hard to use my phone to read or take pictures. Your critters need you, so keep covering up and heading out there to enjoy their company on your walking adventures!
Yes, I wonder why I waited so long too. One reason that I wanted a DSLR was because I missed the viewfinder. My first compact digital had a viewfinder but only 4X zoom, so I upgraded and got one with 12X. But, since it’s a point-and-shoot camera, in strong sun, I see my face in the back window, unless I get my eyes up close and look down – sometimes I just shoot blindly and hope for the best if it’s too sunny. Last year I got a special blue tint for computer use on my regular glasses and I can’t say that it has made any difference, but I had to get a stronger prescription and told my eye doctor I was logging too much time in front of a screen due to work and blogging and he suggested the special tint.
Let’s make a pact for the summer to figure out our cameras better? Maybe I’ll upgrade, we’ll see…how much the ceiling repairs cost first :-(. My daughter bought some of those blue glasses and she said it helped her headaches. You’re right though, you spend a lot of time infront of the screen. I don’t have special tint, but I do have occupational lenses and they help tremendously. Hope you get a walk in this weekend!!
Yes, let’s do that Shelley. I should have devoted today to learning the camera but I knew I wasn’t walking (now up to 2 inches of rain possible ending in snow showers) and decided to be lazy this morning. I don’t often do that, but we’ve been really swamped at work and I’ve been late there every night, worked part of Sunday … I need to come back here to WordPress because I’ve been a day behind in Reader all week and I intend to write the post from last Saturday. I am inspired by your photos and know I can do more with the camera … I hate myself for being lazy with the camera but I did the same with the 35 mm when I had it …. I shot everything on automatic, despite taking photography classes and buying books. Must. Expand. My. Horizons! Thank you for giving me the push!
I look forward to seeing what you come up with! I appreciate you encouraging me, too. It’s gonna to be a great season!
I think and hope so Shelley. I know what made me pause a little was the formatting of the photo card. One of Jarod’s videos touched on it – I saved all those videos. I had just thought it was as simple as flipping the switch to “video recording” but I had read, and you touched on, the reformatting of the card. So, could you not just be extravagant and have two cards – one for photos and one when you are going to shoot video and just keep them separate? Like using two different brands to keep it simple … one dedicated to just videos?
Bingo – that’s what I do! It’s way easier in my book!
Great! That’s good to know because I was considering doing that just for the ease of it and figured I could just swap them. I’m guessing there is nothing else you have to do when you put it in a SIM card reader or right into your computer? You sold me – one less thing to learn – yippee!
It depends on your card reader? It should prompt you through the steps though. I’m all about making the process easy – if I can!
I have put the camera card into the card reader on occasion and nothing happens – I have to re-insert the card again and usually it is fine. I figured maybe the “teeth” (for lack of a better word to describe how the card/card reader mesh together” was wearing out, so I got a new one to have in case it goes kaput. Maybe have a dedicated card reader/card just for video. I am all for easy too. Wait til you get my age! 🙂
You’re right the cards do go bad eventually (they’re cheaply made) and they do require proper seating in the reader to work. You were smart to replace when you first noticed problems. LOL – I’m practicing how I’ll be when older, but not ready to go there yet. 😉 I think you’re doing awesome for your age, btw. I hope I’m as active and as tech saavy as you are when I get there!
Well thank you for saying that Shelley … however, you did not see the look on my face when I got an e-mail today about how WordPress is upgrading from 5.0 to 5.2. I don’t know if that will affect you since you are are not hosted by WordPress (hope I used the correct terminology there). I hope that does not mean mandatory use of the new Gutenberg editor – gulp. There is always the idea of using a GoPro camera. One of the bloggers I follow is a wildlife photographer in Tofino, British Columbia. He has lived there many years, has eagles that come to see him when he is out shooting. This one eagle comes over to the boat and hovers above him – he usually just has still shots, but included a shot from his GoPro – he did another video today, but this one is a little longer so I’m passing the link along – the GoPro gibes you audio which would be nice … https://tofinophotography.wordpress.com/2019/03/30/my-fine-feathered-friend/
You’re welcome! I’ll be prepared for the upgrade since I have my settings to auto do so. I don’t think they’d just force Gutenberg on us without a clear message that its going to happen. But we’ll see! That’s awesome GoPro videos. My daughter has a Go-Pro and it’s fun to see what she comes up with. I have no clue how to edit videos, so it would be useless for me to have one of those…maybe…we’ll see…!
Yes, that is amazing isn’t it? I don’t know how to edit them either. One of the bloggers I follows uses Vimeo for her posts. She does nature posts, but doesn’t post videos all that often. I priced it before and for basic is $7.00/month and it appears you can edit on there. Maybe something to shoot for after I master the manual settings on the camera?
Yes, it is! I’ll have to ask my daughter what she uses. It is exciting in a way that there’s more to learn, that keeps me interested in photography! Keep playing with your camera, that’s the best way to learn.
Yes, there is lots to learn – we’ll learn it … I cheated and took the small one today, but when I left the house it was so gray out – they said no rain, but the sky looked like it would and I did not want to be out in this large park and have the big camera. I was just as glad – I was overdressed and could not wait to get to the car to ditch my coat, hat, gloves and get home and ditch the rest.
Wait…did you say, overdressed…that means it was warm??!! YAY!! I often just grab my small camera too. It challenges me to see the bigger view instead of the objects I want to zoom in on.
I overdressed bigtime yesterday – I could hardly wait to ditch my outer layer of clothes when I reached the car, and I was still very warm. We are getting an inch of snow Wednesday into Thursday morning. I am headed out shortly – never even got to Reader last night after a long post and I had so many pictures I divvied them down for future posts after I got the idea for “Slightly Askew” and had some fun with it. I really like the small camera, but once warmer weather is here, and not fiddling with gloves and the neck strap over the bulky coat, I’ll be more inclined to use it. I use it for other parks where I don’t usually feed any critters – nearly impossible to use it at Council Point Park and feed peanuts unless I use it around the third time around … the compact digital is good for on-the-run shots as I can shoot with one hand. And now I am off – don’t like going to this park too early on a Sunday morning. It is a little deserted.
I loved your post from yesterday! SO playful and fun with your photo captions. Way to enjoy the day. I still can’t believe you turned on the AC in your car…!
Great post! That first birdsong is always so exciting. Around our parts the osprey are back, which means it’s almost baby osprey time–and fishing season!
Thank you, Rebecca. Aw, I bet the osprey are fun to watch. Yay to fishing season, I can’t wait to go this summer!
The osprey are fun–except for the early morning screeching. They can be very loud! I’m also excited to get out on the water to fish and boat this summer!
Gotta love a bird who can sing, right? LOL! Boating and fishing and relaxing sounds wonderful. I bet your boys love it too!