From the window near my desk, I get a view of the bird feeders closest to this end of the deck. This morning I saw the first Baltimore oriole of the season. Because I knew the oriole feeders needed jelly, I sprinted to the deck with spoon and jar and filled the two feeders. Later, I’ll go buy a few oranges. I hope the bird is enticed to return.

It’s a sunny day and warmer than it has been all week. According to the paper, we should have weather in the 60’s through the week-end, but I’m skeptical. Spring on Cape Cod is capricious.

Dogs roamed when I was a kid. My dog, Duke, knew his way home from anywhere in town. He even knew his way home from the next town. My aunt lived four or five blocks away, and Duke used to visit, meet up with his son Sam, my aunt’s dog, and the two would roam the town together. Sam was much bigger than his father, and he smiled a huge grin. Duke was somber. They were the gentlest of dogs though they looked fierce as boxers do. I remember a phone call from a frantic woman trapped in her house by Duke and Sam. Her dog was in heat, and the two boxers were sitting in front of her house, waiting and hoping. The woman was afraid to leave. My dad brought both dogs home. They went back the next day.

When I was in the fourth grade, the school had double sessions. We alternated. As fate would have it, I got the morning session in the cold, dark winter and the afternoon session in the spring. I remember warm afternoons when my teacher would open the tall, wooden windows which framed the classroom on two sides. I sat at a desk in the back of the room and could feel the sun’s warmth as it streamed through the window behind me. I could hear voices from the schoolyard where kids were playing. Arithmetic lost its allure. I longed to be outside in the sun, but I had a bit of a wait. The end of the school year and freedom were a long month away.