Papyrus

Spike and I went for a walk first thing this morning and found that the wildlife is retuning with the spring. A parade of turkeys paraded down Dorie's driveway next door, across the street and down to the creek, chuckling amongst themselves as they went. Two does grazed in the field, barely lifting their heads as we passed by. The almost constant parade of trucks up and down Los Alamos Road had paused briefly for a Sabbath break. There were only three of them but the sight of quail walking down our back steps was heartening. Sunshine and warm(er)  temperatures improves the outlook as does the invitation to Jim and Dana's for homemade pizza.

I went out to take some pictures of the frogspawn attached to the stems of the mini papyrus that were trailing in the pool beneath the water feature by our stairs. This is where Fergus and his burgeoning family of singing tree frogs hang out. Come fires, floods, droughts and time changes these tiny frogs begin their nightly chorus at exactly 5:22pm every day. The papyrus is not at its best this year and the pond is very murky because we haven't had time to clean it, but this seems to suit the frogs just fine. The only time we have ever spotted one is after dark with a flashlight, but they can certainly make themselves heard The clan must be outgrowing the pond for some of them seem to have established a second home in the fountain in the back.

The picture I chose doesn't even show what I went out to photograph. It is actually just the reflection of the little papyrus umbrellas in the green  water, but I liked it better than the little sac of developing tadpoles I was trying to capture. 

There seems to be a growing feeling here that if one has been fully vaccinated, one can socialize normally again. That brings me back to the contemplation of what is normal? I certainly don't believe it is the status quo, but nor is it a return to The innocent pre-Covid days are gone when we argued over things like the five second rule...the adage that says if you drop a french fry on the floor it is safe to eat it if you pick it up and brush it off within five seconds. But common sense has also taught us  that we don't need to sterilize all our purchases from the grocery store before bringing them into the house.  The guidelines are too complicated, the allocation of vaccine is too unreliable and everybody is  too tired of the life we are living now to make it feasible for much longer....