Thursday, April 3

day sit with the boy and the dog. breezy. warm sun, cool shade.

on the way to the sit spot, my dog found the spot where the fox had eaten the turkey a little while back, now that the snow has melted and uncovered the remaining feathers. there was a large portion of a wing remaining intact, which he sampled until i reminded him of his pancreatitis.

under the pine, the air was rich with the full scent of pine, a deeper and rounder smell than on earlier sunny days. the snow in the backyard, shaded by trees in the afternoon, is still over my knee, as my successful postholing revealed, but it's only about eight inches in the sunnier parts of the yard. it continues to pull away from the base of the trees, leaving wide brown carpets below them.

today was one of those days when the weather tugs at you to be outside. the bright, abundant sun, the breeze that made me want to remove my jacket rather than pull it tightly closed, all of the birds chanting, the awareness that seeds are sprouting and will soon appear above ground. the need to get out felt instinctive, it came from such depths, and i felt frantic when i was in for too long.

the boy, the dog, and i spent the afternoon out, looking at and talking about the trees, the sky, the earth, the birds, shadow and sun.