Here in the foothills of the Ozarks there are
certain signs for each of the seasons. Right
now we are in the middle of Spring.

Early Spring is easy to tell. There are the
Forsythia, the Daffodils, the Redbuds and the
Dogwood to be delighted in. Mayapples pop up
all along the roadsides and a tinge of green
appears everywhere. This is all only a memory
now for the present year.

What we are experiencing now is Mid-Spring. It
is just as evident as Early Spring. The nights
are dotted with fireflies. They dance about to
some hidden music that only they can hear. The
turtles are on the move. They cross the roads
in hordes and we measure our trips to town and
church by how many times we have to swerve to
keep from crushing a turtle. There are three-
turtle trips, five turtle-trips, etc.

A new music fills the air at night. The peepers
have given way to the cricket and the bullfrog. One
of my greatest gifts from God is a husband who likes
to leave the window at the head of our bed open as
much as I do. The window comes down to the top of
the bed itself. We don't have a headboard, so any
time at all I can just lift my head and look out
and see the moon or the stars or the fireflies or
the lightning going about their appointed businesses.

The hummingbirds are back in droves. Many minutes
at a time can be spent watching their attacks on one
another. What bravado!

And the ticks are here. I can't figure out why I have
so many on me these days. I've not had time to meander
through the woods in the gloaming. I've not even been
working in my yard any. But daily these little guys
are having a heyday crawling around on me and finding
likely looking spots to stick their little head into.

Just yesterday I was with G'ma Opal and while we
were chatting she turned her head a little. I
thought, "She's got a mole on her neck I've never
noticed before." But when I peered closer it was
a tick just in the process of digging in. I picked
him off and happily flushed his little body into
the sea.

Good days. Good gifts from God's hands.