First Sniff of Spring

I was awake and out of bed near 730am ,just like most weekend days. But this time there was a catch. I quickly realized that we needed to set the clocks ahead, so it was really 830a. I started some coffee then reset the stove and microwave clocks. From my PC, I checked the temperature. It was 50 degrees under partly cloudy skies. The day’s forecast was much improved when just the day before they were calling for rain. Now they were calling for partly cloudy skies with a high approaching 70. Here we go!

I enjoyed coffee and internet for an hour or more before taking off for a run. I stretched shortly before hand, heading out the door near 915am. Felt good to not need long johns, hand and ear covers. What a beautiful morning. I ran the usual weekend trail of 3 miles. During my run I contemplated how I might confront Mindy about her Saturday evening ‘errand time’.

Home from my run, Mindy and the pug were still sleeping. After another cup of coffee, I decided to follow through on my plan to search for goose nests outback around the pond. I put on some old tennis shoes and my running jacket, then grabbed one of my snow ski poles to use as a walking stick. I took my camera, too.

The sun was shining and it was getting warmer seemingly by the minute. A great morning for a walk in the woods. Meanwhile, the two new white plastic swans that Kenny anchored in the pond seemed to be doing their intended job of keeping the geese away.

I walked along the ponds edge as best I could. It’s a lot different back there before the foliage takes bloom. Still lots of underbrush to contend with though. Didn’t see any nests, but did find lots of plastic bottles both in the woods and along the edge of the pond. How sad is that? I plan to go back with the kids taking a few garbage bags along for a fun clean-up hike.

Because of the recent snow melt, the ground was rather mushy, especially where there wasn’t any brush or debris present. I slowly meandered all the way back to the waterfall and even stepped out onto the damn for a couple pictures. What a gorgeous morning! Noticed two pair of geese swimming around the small island and then one single. I hope there aren’t any more than that calling our pond their home.

I made my way back still keeping my eyes opened for nests. None to be found. I’m guessing that they're nesting on that island, safe from humans and coyotes. During my trek back through the woods and around the pond, I rescued two mini footballs. One was completely flat. The other is decent shape. I took it home.

As I made my way back up the yard I noticed Mindy and Eiknarf sitting on the deck enjoying coffee and sunshine. Mindy watched me carry the rest of the winter toys still strewn along the pond from last week’s sledding no-school day. I greeted them both warmly then took Eiknarf a walk in the yard without a leash. Often times she won’t relieve herself in our own yard when off leash, but this time she did. It took a little while, though.

I went inside and got my coffee and then joined Mindy and the pug still taking in the sunshine on the deck. After a couple minutes I asked Mindy about her 'errand time'. She responded differently than I imagined, pretty much blowing it off. To make my point, I quoted her exact words, which seemed in stark contrast to her recollection. In a huff, she headed inside and upstairs to our room. At first I assumed she headed in to refill her coffee. When she didn’t return I went looking. She was upstairs in the shower presumably preparing to depart for school.


Much to my dismay, Lindsey and the boys were expected to arrive around 1130am to start laundry but then leave again around 1245p for the kids basketball games. I wasn’t looking forward to their visit. What can I say? I took a shower and played on the internet soon after Lindsey and the boys arrived. Lindsey wondered of Mindy’s whereabouts and asked if she was still planning to finish her laundry while she was away with the boys. I only shared that it would get done. I did ask about her tax return, which she agreed to sign over to us as part of the Civic deal. Said she submitted her return a couple weeks prior. Still waiting for the check.

Lindsey and the boys left before 1pm as planned. Said she’d be back around 5pm. After they departed I enjoyed the peace and quiet. Mindy got home I’m guessing around 2pm. At the time I was watching TV. Can’t recall just what. With such nice weather, I decided it a perfect afternoon to remove the mower blades from the tractor and push mower. I headed out to the shed. I’d forgotten that the push mower developed a starting/running problem during the very last mowing, but it all came flooding back as soon as I opened the shed doors and unlocked the serpentine cable.

Since the Toro sits just inside the doors, I dealt with it first, pushing it to the garage where I could get a better look at any potential problem. I added fresh gas then checked the air filter, something I’ve apparently neglected to clean for 7 or 8 years. I was embarrassed with how dirty it was. Yikes. Truth is, I didn’t realize it had an air filter.

The mower started on the third pull and ran strong. I flexed the throttle numerous times to see if I could get it to sputter and stop. Nope. Ran fine. I stopped it completely several times then restarted. While messing with the mower, Mindy left presumably for the grocery, though I couldn’t say with 100% certainty. I tried restarting the mower multiple times. No matter what I did it just wouldn’t fire. Dang it! I fooled with it for another 10 minutes before bagging it and removing the old spark plug with intentions of picking up a new one later in the work week.

Next , I fussed with the John Deere tractor. It wouldn’t start either. The battery was almost completely dead after just two seasons. Without much hesitation I removed it with plans to but a trickle charger, something I need to have around the house anyway. I then lifted the tractor from the rear so I could roll it out over the lip the entrance and get it up on two concrete blocks, high enough that I could remove the twin blades underneath. That went easy enough.

Once I had the blades off I moved it back into the shed and secured it with the serpentine cable and lock. After putting away my tools, I got busy on Trena’s fallen tree, severing it fully from the main trunk and then into 5 or 6 manageable sections that I could carry to the back of her property. Even then the pieces were heavy and caused me to break a significant a sweat. In fact, the largest of them damn near gave me a heart attack. Like most tree work, once it’s on the ground it looks so much bigger.

Once I finished with her tree I was officially whipped and done outside for the day. I headed in where I tuned into PGA golf eager to watch Tiger Woods in Miami. I watched golf, but also bounced over to the Indiana/Michigan basketball game several times. If Michigan won, we’d share the big ten title again.
It was an exciting finish, Indiana won by one point. Michigan missed a lay-up as time expired. It rolled around the rim but then fell innocently to the floor.

Mindy & the kids got home near 5pm. I can only guess that Mindy picked them up from Jimaken’s place.
She spent most of the early evening on her laptop while I finished watching the golf tournament, which Tiger won! After TV, I prepped some dinner, making brown rice, reheating my leftover Saturday steak and then a garden salad. It was all pretty good. During my dinner Mindy disappeared to our bedroom.


After dinner I watched Science Channel. I’m guessing that it was near 7-730pm when Carl came to the door. Startled me. He asked if we were home Friday night and then went on to share that someone had the nerve to steal his license plates while his Jeep sat parked in his driveway. They even put other tags in their place. The story got even weirder. The plates came off of another Jeep Cherokee the same model, year and color as his. The cops found it Friday night full of bullet holes on the hilltop.

He went on to share that the cops stopped by our house on Saturday while we were at the gym meet to apparently ask if we’d seen anything suspicious Friday night. Carl and I talked for a good half hour. It was near dark when I headed back into the house to watch more Science Channel.

Back inside, I spent the next hour or so working on our 2012 tax return. It was near 930pm when I headed up to bed.