Do I Hear Robins?

Robins are resident birds. They live in our area all year round and often, on our walks, we see them flitting from one branch to the next occasionally giving a chirp or two to announce their presence. But this morning they were actually singing! Loudly.

What does this mean? Well, I fear that it means the groundhog was wrong when he predicted six more weeks of winter. Robins, in these parts, only sing like that when winter is ending and spring is springing. I have mixed feelings about this.

First, when I look longingly to the west and see snow in the Olympics and then look east at the Cascades without much snow at all, I worry that snow may be something I’ll never see again. Gretchen tells me not to worry, but I guess worrying is in my nature.

Next, while warmer weather is nice, warmer weather often brings more rain before it brings no rain (as in summer). We’ve had an awful lot of rain this winter and, according to the weather forecasters, the warmest January on record. I don’t mind the rain, but I seriously mind my raincoat and I fear that days and days of rain may require Gretchen to pull that evil thing out of the closet.

Warm weather is also not good if you’re a dog (or a cat) because it means more fleas. If it doesn’t freeze in the winter, all those dormant eggs hatch and man, fleas are a bummer!

But warm weather has its points. It means swimming in the lake, long hikes in the mountains, hours in the garden, and hanging out in the sun on the back porch. It means light late in the evening and early in the morning and all those flowers blooming and birds chirping.

So, while I want to complain about the lack of snow, the robins are singing in some just as fun (well, almost) as a crisp wintry day. Today those robins chirped sporadically since the sun was out and then it wasn’t, blue skies followed by sprinkles.

Fickle. That’s just about the only word for today’s weather that started with morning teaching session and then a nice long walk with Monty. We ate a hearty brunch after that while Gretchen grabbed the boys next door and went for play date at the tennis courts with a little orange and blue ball. Perrito liked that very much.

Oshi, on the other hand, was worried about rain so he hung out with Gretchen while Perrito raced after the ball on the shiny, wet courts.

After the boys went home, Gretchen picked up Gemma and walked her over to Saber’s house. Man, those two. It’s just exhausting looking at the pictures!

Once they got their jollies out, they went for a long walk up on the ridge and posed with Bellevue behind them. Yes, the mountains are there, too, but you really can’t see the snow 1) because there isn’t much and 2) because Gretchen’s still trying to figure out the camera. (Hint: Read the instruction manual!)

After they went home, Gretchen picked up Monty and me again first for a game of fetch at the little park…

…where Monty almost lost Or’ange in the undergrowth (see him there all worried that Monty will distractedly walk off?)…

…and then the rain came though it was still sunny. Not sure if you can see the little white flecks, but those are photographic defects…it’s rain!

…then we went on a long walk down by the lake whereupon we posed by the water.

Yes, the weather was warm. Gretchen was in a short-sleeved shirt. I love to swim, but I wasn’t quite sure the water would be to my liking. Not Monty!

“Warm weather? Cold water? Dude!!!! It’s time to swim!!!!”

I watched from the shore.

Does that make me a chicken?

Actually, I think I’m just looking forward to tomorrow when Gretchen’s going to take me to a doggie spa. I know, I’m spoiled rotten, but she figures he gets a massage every few weeks and I work probably harder than she does, so I need a little pampering myself. The spa water is supposed to be 98 degrees! I think I might like that more than the cold lake on a warm day.

Stay tuned…I tell you all about it on Monday!

Until then, have a great weekend!

Rubin