Today I observed a ritual that has been part of my spring break for the past three years. Instead of pulling weeds and vines in beds already established and tragically overgrown, I dug up perfectly vigorous clumps of St. Augustine grass that had survived my campaign of near-neglect (one to two feedings a year and no watering) in order to expand the bed in the side yard where I plant most of my herbs and vegetables.
Today was windy and sunny. The trees are putting on their new suits of clothes. At this time of day, the late afternoon light doesn't hit every leaf as it does at midday, so there are patches of brilliant chartreuse and tea green. As the minutes pass, the patches of tea green expand. Watching it change at the remains of the daylight from the porch is one of our chief pleasures.
I saw a red tailed hawk fledgeling make his first flight today. I heard an unfamiliar voice. His parent had been a regular for several weeks. But this voice was raspy and he wasn't flying so well. Then his parent flew over to where he was to check on him. They both got very quiet. A successful first flight. It's ironic because I had not looked at the Washington Square hawk cam or looked at Roger Paw's blog for a while until today. Last time I looked was in February, and Rosie and Bobby had just mated. Now they have three eggs. Of course New York is on a different schedule than north central Florida.
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