Earlier this morning it rained. When I went to get the paper, I could smell the flowers and the wet soil. It is a spring smell, the smell of growing things. The rain will return this afternoon, a light rain. It will be in the low 50’s all day.

When I was in Ghana, I learned not to mind the bugs. They’d fly onto my food or land in my glass. I’d just pick them out. I’d sift my flour as the bugs loved flour. I wouldn’t get all of them, but I figured the rest were protein. Lately I’ve been the victim of another plague, gnats. It started in Jack’s wet food. The gnats multiplied. They attacked. They reminded me of World War II movies when swarms of planes attacked carriers. I vacuumed them. I swatted them. I grabbed them in mid-air. I killed the ones on the back door glass. They left streaks. My sister suggested I get one of those fly strips. I remembered them from my childhood. One used to hang over the lobster tank at the fish store. It was covered in dead flies stuck to the strips. It was gross but mesmerizing in an odd way. I looked up how to kill gnats. There are natural ways. I’ll try those before the sticky tape.

I love the early mornings when the air is filled with the songs of birds. When I get downstairs, the first thing I do is let the dogs out, yes I do. They run downstairs to the yard. I often stand on the deck to watch them. This morning I saw blue jays, robins, a couple of doves and a woodpecker. The morning was bird noisy, and Henry added a bark or two.

When I was a kid, I didn’t know birds except pigeons, blue jays and robins. I thought of robins as the harbingers of spring. The pigeons were city birds. The blue jays were the biggest birds, and I thought they were bullies. I remember bird houses, but I don’t remember seeing bird feeders.

At the zoo was a tropical bird exhibit, an aviary. The building was huge with a high ceiling. The air was thick with humidity. It was free flight. The birds flew overhead and sometimes dive bombed us. I remember people squealing and covering their heads with their hands. That was fun to watch.

I have two concerts left this week, one today and one Saturday. Tomorrow I need to grocery shop. I have a list.

This entry was posted on April 30, 2026 at 12:14 pm and is filed under Musings. You can subscribe via RSS 2.0 feed to this post's comments. You can comment below, or link to this permanent URL from your own site.