Very strange and beautiful sky this morning. This lasted maybe thirty seconds in these colors, then faded out, and the unusual rolls and bundles in the clouds were no longer discernible.

Coffee, then a brisk two-mile walk along the road, east wind buffeting, clouds moving in from the ocean breaking up overhead.  Balmy, blustery.  Second cup of coffee back at the house then out to check the garden. Besides radishes, there are okra, cucumber, basil, and onions now poking through.  Watered everything thoroughly, then set out eight more small tomato plants in lots of compost and manure.  Lingered there a long time in the early sun, seated on a bench I’ve made from a wormy driftwood plank I found on the beach years ago.  St. Francis doing a fine job with the garden so far this year.

Atlantic running big for two days now.  Constant, background roar all morning underpinning everything.  Did some e-mails and bill-paying, then sat good long meditation on steps of back deck in the moving, dappled sunlight.  The house blocks most of the traffic noise, but not the ocean.  Remarkable, really.  You can hear it all around, but distant, too, even in the trees.  The pair of Cardinals has returned; I heard them calling from different trees in the back, and two afternoons ago she appeared in the bay tree at the back window, as if to announce their return.  I don’t know, of course, if it’s the same pair, but there has been a pair every spring for as long as I can remember.  Perhaps these are offspring of an earlier pair.  We have resident Doves through spring and summer as well, and flights of visiting Grackles when the Bay tree berries fruit in abundance.  We’ve had hawks on occasion, and a very big Owl one summer, who would scare the daylights out of you when he took flight.  Sometimes night herons roost out back, on their way to the beach early for crabs.

Hummus sandwich and a Blue Moon for lunch in the sun of the front deck, then fell asleep for a half-hour.  Dragged myself to writing desk to try to get some work done. This is the view from the desk.  Lots of down time here. Starting to settle into the spring/summer routine.

* * *