Song of the South

Oh, I have a blog? That requires coming indoors and sitting at the computer? You can't be serious. Who's bright idea was that?

It is spring, and my brain is full of golden, dozey pollen. Those of you who have circumnavigated the solar year with me might remember this seasonal condition. The April 2006 archive shows a whopping two entries.

As with this time last year, I have been spending every spare minute outdoors. The boys went back to school today, and as soon as they were dismissed I sped them off to the park, where they spent the rest of the afternoon chasing salamanders and crawdads out from under rocks, as boys in April should. Watching them scramble around a creek bed, barefoot and trousers rolled, always makes me feel like I have stumbled into a Mark Twain story.

Our camping trip was fantastic. Few people realize that Arkansas is a beautiful place. I once received condolences from a couple in a restaurant in Maine when I told them I had moved here. Ignorant Yankees. They have no idea. Thursday's drive through the Ozarks took my breath away. As did our hike through Devil's Den, with the dogwoods all in bloom. A hickory forest is an enchanted place to stand.

Less enchanting, but no less demanding of reverence, was the copperhead snake we ran into on the way. I guess a bird had dropped him on the branch. Talk about a rock and a hard place. He was fairly pissed off by the time our party came along, with a dozen children stampeding in front. There was a great deal of shouting at each other before we all moved along, one of the Daddies going back to lend the snake a hand.

Get it?

Sorry folks, it's just not going to get much better until the heat kicks in and I'm forced back to the climate controlled interior. Ninety two degrees today. It won't be much longer.