04.24.18

We had such a fun week-end in Billings with our family.  Soccer games, bike rides, tennis, shopping.  Duncan and I cleaned off their back deck, set out the furniture, and we all ate pizza under the market lights and watched a fat robin making her nest.  It felt like the start of a new season–especially after the drive over on Friday in which the lakes were still frozen on our side of the Divide.  And then we were back home, ahhhh, to the lake–the water ranch, as Colleen refers to it.

Where bedtime is getting so late.  Just as I am putting on my jammies, after days that begin around 5:00 a.m., the everlastingly long evening light and golden sunset begin the enchanting performance.  I put on my robe, go back down to the water, and have camera in hand, because something wonderful is going to happen.  Last night, there had been much drama on the dock, as a pair of Canada geese were most likely deciding if they were going to be a couple.  They kept sweeping over the house, casting their wing span shadows across the living room.  Finally it got quiet, and he or she was left alone in the water to float away in the darkening sky.   So down I went to photograph the ripples.  You just can’t miss these things.

The remainder of the week will be like this–70 degree temperatures, sunny, with spectacular evenings and nights of moonlight.  We spent today cleaning off the porch and took the wicker furniture out of the boat house, and sat outside in the sunshine during cocktail hour.  It’s supposed to rain on Sunday and be back into the 50’s.  While there’s been some mild panic to have this warm and dry spell so early in the season, it’s not unusual to have a big warm-up in April or early May, and then we go back into our rainiest months.  Whew…we have to train up for all this sunshine and endless light in the sky.