A while ago I swear I saw the sun behind a bank of clouds, but I was hesitant to believe my eyes so I went back to my coffee and papers. When I looked later, a bit of blue sky was poking through the grey. I wanted to dance in the street, but I’m glad I didn’t because the clouds are back, darker than before, and the wind is stronger. Nothing is left of the blue. The day is cold at 39°, but the wind makes it feel so much colder. I have uke practice tonight. Bundling will be in order before I hit the elements.

The forecast for today is partly cloudy though fully cloudy would be more accurate as the clouds have taken up permanent residence. My mood is even starting to resemble a cloudy day. I need sun.

This morning when I was going back into the house I stopped short at the front garden, startled by what I noticed. I saw green shoots. On the left side of the garden, the shoots are an inch or more above the ground. The ones on the right are a bit taller. All this winter warmth has beguiled Mother Nature.

The dogs are restless. They have been on and off the couch and back and forth outside. Henry is sitting at the front door watching for shadows. He is barking, of course. Nala is looking out the den window, her window, the one with the nose prints. I have no idea what occupies her attention as there is no one next door at the rental, and the spawns have not been around of late. Maybe she is just hoping.

My favorite cake is chocolate. I like it with chocolate frosting. Spice cake is not so common, but I’m a fan even though It has almost been forever since I last had a slice of one. I don’t like cake and ice cream together. I never have. The cake looks gross once the melting ice cream hits it, and, once it does, the ice cream gets crummy. Lemon is a favorite, even a lemon donut. Lemon meringue pie is heavenly.

Sun just won’t be enough for me. I think I’m needing chocolate in any form. I’ll also take lemon in a pinch.

The lumber is on order. I have the plans. Building the ark will commence.

It rained all night, and it is raining now, a rain heavy enough to be heard. The forecast is for snow and rain. Right now it is in the low 40’s, but by night, we’ll be down to 29°. With all this water, I expect ice.

Henry naps on the far end of the couch. He prefers the ball position when sleeping. Nala, more than not, will sleep on the other end of the couch with her head resting on the arm. My favorite of her sleep positions is when she lies behind me, straight out. I can feel her heart beating and her chest rising up and down. She keeps my back warm.

Christmas is gone except for the scrub pine. It is covered with plastic and still sits in the dining room corner. I’m leaving it there as I have yet to celebrate Christmas with my friends Bill and Peg and Jay and Clare. I’ll play songs of the season and light the tree and we’ll do presents.

When I was a kid, January was the worst month. We had no days off. It was always cold and rainy or snowy. My shoes and sometimes my socks were soaked from the walk to school. We often had to skip recess because of the weather. January had nothing to commend it. If humans hibernated, January would be my pick to sleep through and away.

When we visited my father’s parents, my brother and I would play in the backyard, mostly the neighbor’s backyard. It had a wire chicken coop but no chickens. Vegetables were planted instead. It had a small but thrilling hill for tricycles. All of the neighbors’ houses were built at the same time, all on a narrow strip of land between two busy roads. Houses faced each road, two on one road, three on the other. After my grandfather died, my grandmother sold the house. Years later I just happened to be going down one of those busy roads so I gave my grandparents’ house a look. I was surprised by what I saw. I always thought the backyards were huge, but over the years each owner had put up a fence around his house and yard perimeter so the backyards have pretty much disappeared superseded by the fences. Behind the houses I could see the old clothes lines with the wooden posts, there since my day, a couple of chairs, a small table and a grill, a not so big grill.

I had great memories of that backyard behind all of the houses. Mostly I remember the hill, a huge tree with a giant spreading trunk growing beside my grandparents’ house and the house next door and all of those clotheslines in a row from yard to yard. It was a neighborhood. Everyone knew everybody and waved and chatted.

I don’t know when the first fence went up, but I figure after it did the other neighbors were quick to protect their spits of land with their own fences. “Good fences make good neighbors,” would be the perfect commentary.