WARM WEEKEND MORNING

I got up early this morning, not long after first light. Even then, the grass was dry instead of being covered in its usual glaze of dew, and the temperature was already above the 70˚F mark. According to the weather folks, we'll exceed 90˚F today, tomorrow, and Monday. A mini heat-wave! In May, in Ohio! I don't recall such temperatures coming so early ever before. This is at least a lifetime record if not an actual state historical record.

The river is low and clear. There are geese and their half-grown young feeding and frolicking in the riffle. The pileated woodpeckers are flapping back and forth across the stream and yard, yelping all the way. Roses and peonies, both the same delicate shade of pale pink, are in bloom on opposite sides of the yard.

I wasn't the only early riser. A cock robin was busy hunting for bugs along the gravel walkway—working to help feed the nestlings he and the missus have tucked away back in the cedars. I thought he looked rather handsome standing on this border rock, and made his portrait.

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