spring...

i know every year i seem to blog about spring.  not sure i even give summer and fall due mention, because they are wonderful seasons too!  then, hardly a nod to winter, especially when it refuses to leave and crowds out the lovely spring days that i've come to crave each year.  spring is just so fresh, so new, so promising.  the kids must roll their eyes at me every time i back the van out of the garage and comment on how fast the front yard is changing, and how awesome it is to see the brown lawn replaced by new and vibrant green. (not to mention how equally delightful it is to see the beloved groundskeeper appear every year as well....he's amazing and always keeps things spruced up, even though it is never expected.... :) ) yes, it's weird, but spring just really feels exciting to me.  i love the rain and the sun.  but most of all, absolutely most of all~ i love the signs of life. 

meet my friend, miss mourning dove, who was trusting enough to make her nest on our brick ledge this year, just on the other side of the bathroom window.  the main bathroom window.  the high traffic, often full of curious kidlets who are supposed to be using the toilet or brushing teeth but instead can be found staring out the blinds, bathroom.  yes~ she is brave, and tolerant, and trusting.  she spent a week preparing her nest and testing it out before depositing two eggs there around Easter.  she saw many eyes and many faces peering at her often~ even when they were encouraged to give her "space" as she prepared for motherhood.  so, once she committed to the location and invested the time into creating her humble abode, she proceeded to lay the eggs and keep them warm while she waited.  her two sweet babies appeared around 15 days later, just as Joe (aka serious bird lover) had said!

 

 

below, mama is watching her young carefully as she gently sets her puffed-up self directly over her babies.  you can see the growing baby birds partially uncovered at the front.  they weren't very cute yet there, but just today i noticed that they are getting quite adorable, and growing fast, so maybe i'll capture another photo before they leave the nest and venture out to live their lives, however mourning doves do that....i wonder if they check in with their mom regularly or if the "empty nest" thing is really final for the mother dove.  potentially depressing, yet surely the emotional capability of such a bird is limited, so hopefully she's not too sad by the departure of her offspring....

 

and below, a rabbit hole (or den or burrow~ rabbit people, which is it??) in our back yard, within the fenced area and safe from coyotes that might prey on these small ones.  we think there are four in there, and i wonder if they take turns being the one near the opening.  because if it were me, i'd want to be further in on these cold, wet rainy days. the picture is a bit like an "I Spy" book, but study it carefully and notice the eye on the right half of the photo and the cute little ear in the middle and pointing to the grass on the left... 

yes~ new signs of life are popping up all over and this makes spring such a refreshing time.  enjoy these days!!