Saturday morning, a class day, still blackberry winter. Sunny and clear, cool but with a promise of warmth later on. In the afternoon I will be at LEAF, sitting on the sand reading while my grandchildren play in the water or on the beach. In front of Harris House, two mockingbirds fuss over a crow. Who is in whose territory? One bird chases the crow away. A small black curly coated dog trots across the scene and disappears. A worker on the new chapel roof calls out in Sapnish to another man. In the library, young boys are building a boat for the afternoon races on the school lake. They're using cardboard boxes and duct tape. All around me, kids are peeling oranges and eating snacks from bags donated by the parents. It's not a day to be inside. I'll go out and check on the plants I moved outdoors yesterday. It's Saturday.

Kate's old friend, Tina, came to visit and took this picture of Kate and me in the kitchen. Tina used to live here when Kate had the School of Fish, and she painted Caleb's room white and tan. I might paint my kitchen new colors this summer. Last summer Jake refinished the floor. It's now gleaming hardwood but doesn't show in this picture.

STINKY AND BAILEY

Here are Stinky and Bailey, left and right, in Oregon, where they live with Zack and Rachel and Cassius. Stinky is kind of old and lame, but Bailey is a big strong boy. Stinky is a GOOD DOG. Bailey is a GOOD DOG. Both Stinky and Bailey are GOOD dogs. Tomorrow I'm going to fly out to see them.

My first daffodils bloomed before the end of February. On the 26th I picked seven to bring indoors for the dinner table. We ate roast lamb and potatoes with garlic and rosemary, and green beans. Also blooming are crocus and now, March 4, tiny daffodils and a miniature iris, and lovely varied pansies. The forsythia is beginning, too, and the winter honeysuckle, that which I haven't hacked off, is in bloom

Here's my dispan. Summer plastics make me happy.