Dragonfly!

[Riley Smith]

I spotted the first dragonfly of the year the other day while I was working in the yard. And today two more, along with a huge Tiger Swallowtail butterfly. Spring is like a lion this year! The pollen is terrible and oak flowers are all over everything. And now the PINES are blooming. And the Amaryllis. Sooner or later we'll get out of the pollen season and I'll be able to BREATHE!!! I hosed my truck off today because it was yellow. No use washing it perfectly because it'll just get yellow again tomorrow!!

[Wolverine]

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[Riley Smith]

           For REAL!!!

[Wolverine]

Here in ENC spring can be long and the temperatures wonderful. However, the pollen makes it impossible to utilize the screened in patio or leave windows on the house, vehicles, and ports on boats open.

[Wolverine]

Spring is also the season of turtles crossing the roads and snakes inhabiting strange places.

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[Riley Smith]

In like a lion has held true for April I guess. A solid layer of clouds has been marching off the Gulf for several days. Only a thousand feet or so thick, not particularly notable, with cloudless blue above that, when you can catch a glimpse through a seam. Warm and pretty much perfect as far as temps go, the solid, low level deck of clouds has been streaming to feed the chaos up in the Midwest. It has finally reached the Coast and rain is falling.

We needed the rain. The constant wind has dried but the humidity has battled it; a weird mix and the universe emits an electric aura during these events.One of the prime indications of very severe weather is how FAST is the lightning coming? 2-3 seconds apart? Find a table to get under! 10-15? That's just bad enough to have all your electronics fried and your house burned down! 30 seconds? Go back to work!

So far no lightning, which is a good thing Ever seen lightning from a cloudless sky? It struck right across the street once, just once. Humidity was an awful fog in the air, temps were well north of 100F. Absolutely NO wind.ZAP!

I have a black snake too! Ditto the turtles

[Riley Smith]

I caught the little flying cobras in action yesterday. I walked into the back yard and some insect was hatching into flying critters. TINY flying critters that you could only see if they were right in your face or else there was a dark background and they were lit up by the low-angle sun. And the dragonflies were working them over. It as a feast! The little spots of light would be disappear one by one as the cobras attacked, almost too fast to see. Cool! One of my favorite critters and the REASON it is one of my favorite critters!