Greening Up

I went outside the other day and the grass turned green before my very eyes.

Seriously.

In the morning it was beige; in the afternoon it was green. That's how it goes around these Southeastern Connecticut parts, in April.

And the grass is not the only thing greening up.

Rosie is also greening up before our eyeballs.

And so is the Hofstra hostra.

Like our new bird bath? Perfect, right?
 Thank you, Mumsie.

I did the only thing one can do at a time like this; I mowed for the first time yesterday. The grass is uneven and patchy and weirdly un-mow-able in sections -- it's like nylon scallions growing in our yard -- but I persevered and got 'er done.

There's that moment, though. That first moment when you bring the mower out of the shithouse shedhouse for the first time since last fall, and fill it with gas, and check the oil, and pump the little pumpy thing, and get set to pull the cord, and hope against hope that it will spring into life -- that we'll *all* spring into life -- after this long, cold, demoralizing, endless winter.

First pull, baby.