Two years ago was the last time I heard my favorite bird call, the eastern whippoorwill. I love their special night song and miss it very much. Now, it looks, or should I say sounds, like a mockingbird has moved in to fill the void. 3 am and the bird was singing so LOUD and clear outside the open bedroom window. Whereas the whippoorwill shouts the same phrase over and over, the northern mockingbird whistles tunes like a jukebox skipping from record to record. It is great to listen to but as I got into bed, I wondered if I would be able to sleep! It was the last thought I had. : )

I'd hopped on the mower tonight to get some of the side field cut before dark. As I went around on the mower, I saw the dwindling sky light become increasingly interesting. I debated with myself whether I should stop, go in, and get my camera. "Mow?" "Take pictures?" "Mow?" "Take pictures?" But I was able to do some of both!

Between showers. : )

Out this morning to be greeted by the first lily of what will be a few hundred lilies here in the next several days! And the honeysuckle is blooming, too; what an awesome aroma when I took the dogs out last night.

It is an annual spring event. A black snake stays and molts in the wall of the outbuilding. And it drives my dogs nuts. And when they bark and dig like crazy, I'm nuts, too. lol Last out yesterday before work, we came upon the molted skin. YAY! THAT'S done! 

I pulled the entire skin out and had a good look. It measures 47 inches long. Particularly interesting is that the skin of the eyes is included in the whole molting shebang. Now if the snake will leave again, peace will reign. If not, I am going to have to spray a non-toxic something in there to get it to move on. Owl and the others have killed half a dozen of their tribe that I can remember.

The most memorable black snake appearance was when I got out of bed one morning and there was one on my bedroom carpet. Thank God, it had not crawled onto the bed. Speaking of which, I jumped back on the bed a heck of a lot faster than I got out. I am not afraid of black snakes, I actually like them. But I do not like surprises!

It seems that I have not, at least, had any problems breeding black snakes here. <she says with pride> But I forbid them to whelp in my bedroom.

You know that I have been steadily other-homing books. Two or three times, I have had a specific one in my hand to put on the Go pile but kept pulling it back. And I am glad that I did! It is a book that I have had since I was stationed at Fort Knox in my early 20s. And have never read. Began reading it yesterday and it is wonderful!

"A Sand County Almanac" by Aldo Leopold, written in Wisconsin in the 1940s. It is a collection of essays that were in draft form when Mr. Leopold died in 1948. His son Luna edited them for publication in 1949. I love the writing! Besides being a naturalist, he was also a historian and the pages are filled with both. 

Here is a paragraph: "March. The Geese Return. A cardinal, whistling spring to a thaw but later finding himself mistaken, can retrieve his error by resuming his winter silence. A chipmunk, emerging for a sunbath but finding a blizzard, has only to go back to bed. But a migrating goose, staking two hundred miles of black night on the chance of finding a hole in the lake, has no easy chance for retreat. His arrival carries the conviction of a prophet who has burned his bridges." 

Great stuff in this little book which I have only begun to read!

I like Owls