Another night of worry for planet, politics, poor innocent horses and general life stuff.  So, "And now for something completely different."

Spring is returning slowly here at 1850 feet in the Pines of Western Monroe County, PA. Last week we had stunning purple finches, male and female. Today we have quite a few bright yellow goldfinches for the first time this year, hanging upside down on the Nyjer thistle feeder.  We are also being visited by two gorgeous male rose-breasted grosbeaks, a female evening grosbeak with her new blue-green bill, and just now a female ruby-throated hummingbird sipping at the purple petunia planter.  Oh, yes, and yesterday we saw a bumble bee.

This is Sophie, a Keeshond who adopted us March 10th.

The woodpecker near the top of the phone poll woke us up this AM, so we decided to go for a walk.

April is the cruelest month...

I am listening to the rain outside my window. At first its steady torrent is one sound, sizzling, like applause. Closing my eyes I begin to hear a difference between where the water falls on wood and stone or upon other water. Eventually I begin to hear individual drops of rain in syncopation and synchronicity with the other droplets, the voices within other voices. Down the street the doleful tones of a neighbor’s wind chimes pass over and through the flowing water like vapor. The music of all this rises and falls; it is a spontaneous composition that is ever changing, eternal, always new, and, yet, has always been. I am the listener as I am the sound as I am the water as I am the stone upon which it falls as I am the reverberating and dissipating sound of the chime as it moves through space. Wet wheels on pavement move past like a sigh as I read

I doubt this will become anything like a regular string but I'm really enjoying some "free thought" posting.  

Y'know...kinda lighten up the place and, at least momentarily, take peoples' minds off of bunnygate or accusations of elitism coming from some of the most elite.

So,for those of you who need some prompting please see my previous diaries here and here or, for more food for thought you can go below the fold because I've been thinking ...

For thousands of years, the Passover Seder has focused solely on the liberation of the Jewish people  -- whether anciently from Pharaoh or in liberations since. But beginning with the Freedom Seder in 1969, in the new atmosphere of an America in which Jews did not fear oppression from the state or from other communities, many Jews have seen that the liberation of other peoples echoes elements of that ancient struggle for  liberation from Pharaoh.
 
This year, two calls for freedom have especially resounded across the Internet as Jews have prepared for Passover: the outcry of Tibetans bereft of their sacred land and leadership by a modern Empire, and the outcry of the earth itself and many of its peoples, suffering from an flood of suffocating gases that are bringing on a global climate crisis.

On behalf of Tibet, Rodger Kamenetz, author of The Jew in the Lotus that chronicled the unprecedented meeting of the Dalai Lama with a dozen rabbis and Jewish teachers in 1997, has proposed placing a symbol on the Seder table -- an empty picture frame! -- that authentically echoes the nonviolent resistance of Tibetans themselves:

For some, it's only spring on the calendar in early April.  It seems a few more winter weather fronts are still holding on the best they can.  

Happy Easter!

Following is an excerpt from "Anna Karenina". Enjoy.

Some variations on a poem ..

#1
Spring has sprung
The grass has riz
I wonder where the boidies is
The boids is on the wing!
Don't be absoid!
Da wings is on the boid!
http://www.pbase.com/...

= = =

#2
Spring is sprung,
Duh grass is riz
I wonder where dem boidies is.
Duh little boids is on duh wing -
But dat’s absoid:
Duh little wing is on duh boid!
http://thebigsofa.wordpress.com/...

= = =

#3
Spring is sprung,
The grass is ris.
I wonder where them birdies is?
Them birdies is on the wing!
That?s strange,
I thought the wing was on the bird!
http://www.youareatree.com/...

= = =

more ..

Ahhh, Spring ... that time of year when we all need to remember re-set our clocks and "spring" forward.

But what's this?  A chance to win a million bucks just by saving some sunshine?!

I'm getting me a big jar - 'cause I plan on winning.  (Details below the fold)

It was above freezing today and the wind wasn't vicious.  As I was going out to work at 8:40 a.m., and slipping across the ice (and when did I get a lake in my backyard?  Maybe I should give in and make it a pond, with waterlillies and goldfish?  Maybe I could have a skating rink, a small one, in the winters), I heard the very distinctive call of a cardinal in spring.  Wild and sweet.  

Here I was, still shivering from last weekend’s ice storm, eagerly looking forward to the beginning of spring, thinking today’s the day—March 20th. But then, thank you very much wise-ass NY Times, I learned that spring will be a little late this year, a little slow arriving: it will begin early in the morning of March 21st. At 12:07 a.m. to be precise.

Well spring is here in Colorado, at least for the next week anyway.  But it's still early enough to get at least one more freak cold spell and snow.  In spite of all the crap that's happening in our country, I can't help but feel happy and hopeful.  I feel like the wind is shifting and things are changing for the better!

More to follow...

Spring is always a mixed bag in my mind.  Yes, the days are getting longer.  I’ve had the opportunity to run outside twice this week!  Until recently, I didn’t have time when the sun was up, and given our 61 straight days of snow cover....well, it’s no wonder I have a little winter weight to shed.

The runoff is about to begin.  That means floods.  That especially means no skiing!  While there is still 5 feet of snow in places at Winter Park, it will be gone here in a few weeks.

Signs of Spring....and TOP COMMENTS below!

Yes, this picture was really taken from my deck!

It's impossible to enjoy a spring day like today in my America unless you love the whiff of cigarette smoke and the chirp of cell phone walkie-talkies. The place where I work, a mall cum office park across the polluted Hudson from NYC, is bound in every direction by interstates, onramps, parkways and roads, none of which have sidewalks for pedestrians. So, there is really no escape to exercise, or getting away for a minute of quiet, unless you think you can somehow slip through the constant stream of SUVs chugging past at 65 m.p.h. with grimacing grilles shining.

I take the bus to this office complex from New York City every day. Basically, if you work here without a car, you're stuck here. [Hit the flip ...]