This past week has been full of wonderfull-ness and crazy weather.

I came home to find this beautiful babe hanging out on my fence. There was a harem of females he was chasing, and a few other males sitting near him. Notice the snow free background, even a bit of gray-green happening.

That I live in and amongst these beautiful birds makes me big-smile every time I see them.

Ahhhh…

Saturday night brought friends and wine and beer and cheese and good conversation around the table.

We headed into DC the next day and spent a lovely afternoon brunching with some friends and visiting the National Gallery of Art, where my son was able to see some of Claude Monet’s work in person. He told me all about how Claude painted the same images at different times of the day to see how light affected his view. He’s 7 and soaking up everything his art teacher tells him. She’s a wonderful teacher and although sometimes he seems nonchalant about art, again, he’s 7…the creative parts of his brain rarely turn off. I think more than anything he wants to create art, not look at others artwork.

I get it, little man, I get it.

And then more snow and ice came. Then a few precipitation-free days, then more snow and ice. What you can’t see in the photo is the ice hanging from the power lines, frozen drops dripping from the maple, and the sunrise’s reflection off our front yard.

You can see that beautiful sun-rise though, beauty, eh?

In the midst of the snow and ice, I had to re-fill our bird feeders. Chippie, our resident chipmunk, finally came out from under our porch where he hibernates to fill up on sunflower seeds. We hadn’t seen him in a long time and were excited to see him looking so good after his long winter’s nap.

Look at those cheeks! He fills them up, runs under the porch to unload, them comes out with empty cheeks only to fill them again.

Chippie wasn’t the only one up early. Jumpy squirrel and his five friends were feeding as well this morning. There is nothing which will keep a squirrel from sunflower seeds.

I’m with ya, Jumpy. I’d hang upside down for really good queso or a piece of delicious cake.

We had a two-hour school delay today and of course, my kids wanted to go sledding. So we drove to the school….and no, the irony here is not lost on me…all because they have the BEST hill around. Nobody was there except for the markings of a coyote who had walked through the area.

At first I thought they were dog tracks but the trail led into the woods, behind the school where I know a coyote and probably a fox family live. (I know this because my son has seen them at the school). They continued deeper into the woods, away from the school and towards a small pond. The other end of the trail crossed the street and continued on through the woods, moving further away from the homes.

Of course, we had to follow.

We never saw the coyote, didn’t expect to but always hopeful. The tracks were fresh, not snow and ice covered, probably made earlier that morning. My son says he saw a coyote in our backyard a few weeks ago and I once saw a fox in our front yard late at night. I know lots of folks who don’t like seeing these animals so close to homes. I understand, especially those with little dogs and outdoor cats. Yet, seeing wildlife, even their tracks, with my kids, reminds us that we’re not alone.

I so enjoy the world we live in.

Winter cannot decide if she wants to be ice-ee or snowy or cold or sunny or windy because everyday our world changes. As I type this, the ice and snow from our overnight storm is almost completely gone, the sun is blazing the sky the most beautiful blue, and it is a cool 27 degrees with the wind chill.

With only a little over two weeks left of winter, there are definitely signs of Spring. My tulips closest to the house, and therefore protected a bit from the cold/snow, are up three inches. The rest of them around the yard are just starting to peek out. One of my hastas is up two inches and there are actually green leaves on some creeping ivy ground cover out front.

We watched robins chasing each other this morning as my kids waited for the bus. There will soon be nests and blue eggs in the trees of my yard. Grape hyacinth will appear all over the yard late March, early April. Daffodils will bloom at the end of my street, in no-man’s land thank goodness, and I will cut them as I do every year.

As much as I love winter, sunny days and green leaves and the promise of coming flowers makes me giddy.

I know this winter has been crazy for everyone.

I’m ready for Spring, how about you?