Earthquakes and PhotoWalking

I was awoken this morning at 4:39 and immediately recognized it as an earthquake. I felt my first earthquake in 1992 and am able to recogonize them immediately now. You can hear it before you can feel it. I heard it and then could feel it coming across the lawn when it hit the house and I heard my bedroom window make a cracking sound (it's not damaged). The bed shook beneath me for about 1 minute.

It appears that the epicenter was far away in Illinois near the Indiana border and was a 5.2 quake. I could not go back to sleep thinking about where the epicenter could have been and who may be hurt.

Yesterday was Abbie Rae's birthday. She's 11 now. It seems she was just a pup yesterday. I took her for a walk for her birthday, but I needed the exercise too.



My tulips started blooming this week. I do not have too many of them and forget to plant more each fall.


The Wild Sweet William started blooming this week too. They are right up there as one of my favorite flowers. When they really get to blooming, their purple catches the eye from far away.



Have I told you about Mr. Robin? Mr. Robin is my pet bird. He seems to to talk to me. I'm not sure if he is actually a Mrs. Robin or a Mr. Robin, but I call him Mr. Robin. Every year when the birds return, he seems to know my work schedule and greets me at my car door as I leave for work in the morning and as I leave for work after lunch.

He sits right by the car door. So I long ago began say, "Good morning, Mr. Robin." Do you know what he does when I say that? He talks a couple hops toward me! So, I talk to him some more--usually about the weather. Then if I take a step forward, he takes one hop back and waits for me to talk some more. Eventually I walk toward him and he flies away. It's become a regular habit between us.

I was worried last week when we had our trees cut down in the front yard that his nest was in one of those trees.







Then a day or so later, I spotted Mr. Robin (and/or his counterpart) in a nest in my neighbor's house near my carport. So, either they had to rebuild their nest or it was there all along and I never noticed it.

I wonder how mad at me Mr. Robin is for cutting down the trees.


The redbuds are also blooming so beautifully! I do so love the Spring trees that bloom. As I drive about town, I observe them everywhere! (and to think my husband only observes cars as he drives about--what do people miss!)




During our walk to the park, we saw a TON of these beautiful yellow flower weeds, also known as Dandalions.




This site and others like it always have me shaking my head. Our city picks up leaves if you rake them to the street before they come around. It appears these neighbors were too late and just left them in the ditch. Does it not bother them that the entire long ditch is filled and clogging up the flow of water, especially with all the recent flooding. Why don't people realize that they are effecting everyone else on the street when they don't allow water to flow freely. Really, Fall was SO long ago, you'd think people would have time to clean up their leaves before mowing in the Spring. It is always so frustrating for us to clean up all the leaves in our yard just to have the neighbor's leaves blow right back into our yard.