First, I must show you the picture of the streetwalker. I volunteer each year for the Pitch-in Program during Earth Week. This year, I picked up 20 bags of garbage and recycling on 7 km. of road in our area. Lest you think I am doing this for altruistic reasons, I cleaned up $5.90 picking up 56 bottles and cans for return. My neighbours have promised to raise funds for a shopping cart for me.
Brian has been working like a fiend outside on projects including cutting up a maple tree he had to fell last fall for installation of a new satellite dish. The size of the logs are not trivial, but he got it all split today.
I am volunteering again at a wildlife centre about 90 km. south of us, just to get my baby fix. Here is a six-week old baby grey squirrel (bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, of course) and a two-week old raccoon (sorry it's a little fuzzy).
I have also started a seven week course called the Ontario Master Naturalist Program, run by Lakehead University at a satellite campus in Orillia. Each Saturday has a morning of lectures, followed by an afternoon of field work. Yesterday, we were studying post-glacial formations including this limestone pavement. The course is great!
Our backyard continues to have new guests, and there are constant surprises. I bought a beef tenderloin and trimmed it, leaving the fat and scraps outside. I expected the coon to find it, but within 20 minutes of putting it out, we had three turkey vultures land in the yard! These birds are not trivial in size. On the ground, they may not be the prettiest, but they are beautiful to watch when they are soaring above.
Despite all the outdoor work spring brings, we were able to sit outside this morning and drink our coffee on the patio, and then admire Jim's daffodils starting to bloom in profusion.
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