The cardinal couple visited me this morning. I watched the male pull a worm from the ground and then feed it to the female. It was the most endearing sight to behold. The female perched on the wisteria long enough for me to snap a few photos before gliding to the ground to meet her partner. Then they danced on the tin roof of the shed as I listen to the pitter patter play overhead. I wish I could hold them in my lap as they take care of one another. I do love hearing and watching the birds.

The bunnies run laps around the edges of the coop. Sisters chasing and then stopping dead in their tracks. They jump straight up into the air when they’re really excited. Mine leap from one nesting box to another since they have the whole coop now that the chickens are gone. They are quite the acrobats. We cleaned their quarters yesterday so all I can smell is fresh pine shavings which is a favorite of mine.

I buried three dahlia bulbs in the ground yesterday: a deep purple (almost black), a hot pink, and a yellow and red striped variation. Dahlias are simply stunning with their intricate, geometric blooms. I have wanted them for some time and finally decided to add to my collection. I hope they will multiply quickly so I can divide and transplant into every bed around the house. I love multiplicity like that.

The robins are making another nest in the apple tree. Same Y branches in the middle as last year. I almost pruned those branches to aerate, avoid fungus from muggy summer. I chose to not. While I love having bright blue eggs to peek in on, I worry more for the fledglings to come. The cats are ruthless and they nabbed a couple last year before I could intervene. I do not like that part of the animal kingdom. I wish that animals didn’t have to survive on each other.

There’s nothing quite like spring. It’s exponential, the growth. Things burst forth so quickly in these months. The landscape changes every day. My wisteria that was barely budding two days ago is now hanging like bridal bouquets. I love this part. I love the surprise of each morning when I look upon the same things with new offerings. Love how things you’ve forgotten about spring up with surprise.

I dream about the garden a lot. Probably more than anything else. Usually I am strolling through and overwhelmed by fruit and blooms beyond natural size. Fruit the size of basketballs and blooms the size of my head. It’s always amazement every time. It’s a wonder I will never get over. I can’t express my desire to live surrounded by brimming beauty like that. It almost hurts the way I long to be neck-deep in vegetation. I want to get lost there, hide there, be found there. It will forever be my happiest place and state. I would plain perish in a concrete world. I need dirt. Maybe it needs me, too.