Waiting for greenup

About a week ago, Chandramoon asked me five simple interview questions. I'm still working on answers, but the results should be posted here soon. More or less soon. Fairly soon.

One question you may be asking yourself is what I was hinting about last week ... what is going to get our cat so interested with the front porch? Time to reveal the answer.

Do you remember the visitors we had on our porch last summer? ...


That was on the northwest corner of our front porch. About a week ago, my wife looked out the door at the northeast corner of the porch and saw this ... and brought it to my attention ...


It was the first round of a construction project. Within a day or so, construction was mostly completed, and Mrs. Robin was in position ...


So here we go again. This time, though, it happened before April ended. The other time, it began in early June. So far, we haven't brought out the chair and mirror. Maybe we'll sneak a peek in a few days.

The warm weather is continuing here, with just a few exceptions. Even my wife's little lilac bush seems to be bursting with life ...


The only problem here is the lack of rain. It's been very dry lately. With all the forests and leaves in our area, way up north, you would think that wildfires wouldn't be a problem. And you would be wrong.

During a recent drive to Marquette, I passed a sad sight I've seen many times--a wildfire from about 10 years ago. That's quite a long time, but the scars are still plain to see ...






It's like that for a mile or so along the north-south road. Outside of that area, the woods are like they usually are--green pines and birches getting ready to bud.

That was a dry spring, and this spring has been dry, too. Last week, we were returning home from Iron Mountain when I saw smoke in the air. I had my camera along, so I went to investigate.

It came from the airport that serves this area (one short runway, located atop a hill). I drove down the access road, and this is what I saw ...




But the guys on the scene had everything under control. It was the local fire department, and they were doing a "controlled burn" of an area likely to burn each year.

With just a little tiny bit of rain in recent weeks, we are waiting anxiously for the start of "greenup," when the countryside gets a good natural drink of water, awakening the fresh grass and other vegetation that turn fields and forest from brown to green.

It hasn't happened yet, and only a chance of showers are in this week's forecast. Other areas in the Midwest and even in the U.P. have gotten rain. Not us. Not yet.