Dove roosting on my patio in a strawberry plant

My goal this weekend was to get as many of the potted plants I got this week into the ground, walk all the dogs and clean out my Honda.

My Saturday began early with my usual coffee, and by 7:45am I was walking the river trail with Wolfie and Zana. They are my two heaviest dogs that need exercise the most, but isolating them from the rest of the pack isn't easy as they all want to join me on a river walk. 

Wolfie hadn't gotten his long walk in almost two weeks, so I know he was happy chasing Zana in the desert. High winds were predicted all day through the evening, but it wasn't so bad in the morning. 

I was only on the trail for 90 minutes and back home by 9:30am.  I was quick to repot a bare-rooted Mexican lime tree and then put a new white oleander in the ground were once my Italian pine failed. I just can't grow pines in my front yard. Everyone has died so far, but the oleander are doing well.

I noticed a dove nest in one of my strawberry pots. A single egg standing on a few dried twigs. It's not much of a nest, but does Momma dove really want to roost there, with all the in-out traffic? I love watching birds and she is welcome to stay if my constant presence won't bother her. I just need to remember to take the side entrance more often. 

 

There were no birds on my property when I first moved here. I'm glad that is changing. I will try to leave Momma dove some seeds and water for her.

Later in the early evening, when clouds were forming, I draped a towel around the shelf the strawberry plant is on to give Momma Dove some privacy so she feels safer.  Hopefully the towel will also keep the wind out.

A high school friend has died

I was sitting in my IKEA chair in the late afternoon. like I always do, scrolling through my Facebook when I noticed a message on Dave Glogowski's page stating that he unexpectedly died of a "cardiac event" on April 15th. He was a retired USAF colonel and just 65 years old. I saw that message and was shocked. He was always so active and healthy, how could he die so soon? David and I were good friends in High School in Germany where our parents were stationed. Kaiserslautern American High School. I was class of 1978 and he the class of 1979. We both were on the cross country and track teams. along with sisters Jill and Lynda, Tim Davis (my boyfriend for that last year until he dumped me a week before the prom), Mark Burdan,Don Stearns, Bob. We often went out together to downtown Kaiserslautern and ate and drank at the Weinstube. Dave and Tim got close that last year and the two boys were also good friends. Dave and I were never serious, also we did go out as close friends briefly in college. HE went to the U of Illinoi and I went to Indiana U. When he told me that I would need to convert to the Catholic faith I knew it wasn't meant to be. Besides, Dave was always highly driven and he was determined to join the Air Force after college. I didn't just want to be an officer's wife stuck in the home with the kids, so we parted gently. We kept in contact sporatically, meeting in the base library of McGuire Air Force Base next to Fort Dix where I was stationed. He happened to be in the area for some of his troops graduation. Our conversation was short and a bit awkward as he let me know I should have been an officer instead of enlisted. But all that aside, I admired Dave for his success. He married a woman he met at U of Illinois and they stayed together for 43 years, until his death last week. His strong faith and his allegiance to country and family were important to him. He was also very proud of his accomplishments. The death saddened me as I'm sure his wife Jeanne is hurting. Now a widow with three grown kids and four grandchildren, she is all alone in their big Florida home. I'm sure she is grieving. Dave was always active, so dying of a cardiac event seemed so weird. I ended up scrolling through Dave's Facebook page to know more about his career. We hadn't hooked up on Facebook until just six months ago, and I was even skeptical to accept his friend request. But his page is disappointing as he doesn't post much unless he and Jeanne are out enjoining a performing arts play at the center in Tampa. He posted a bit about his daughters and grandkids but little about Jeanne. He also posted a crypted post about "fighting the black dog" late last year. I'm not sure what that was about as his older posts were seldom personal. I ended up going to bed early and forsaking a night walk. I kept thinking about Dave, knowing he's now gone forever and a high school reunion with him and the old track team will never be. And that got me thinking: is it better to die young and successful, or old and experienced?

Fritz and Gretel to the river

Creosote and Desert Marigolds are still in bloom but now the Sweet Acacia shrubs with the yellow round fluffballs are also blooming.

Tent catepllars are also busy building their silk sacks in the trees along the river.

To the river with Fritz, Gretel, Wolfie

The desert continues its bloom. Cottonwood trees have slowed down their aerial seeding, but now tent caterpillars are moving in.

Spring has sprung