5/22/13

Comings and Goings

 Winter kept coming, with snow again on April 24
 
 adding to the piles that came and went all spring.
 The pond was still frozen and snow-covered
to the disgust of the geese that have been waiting to set up housekeeping on the island.

 Eventually the pond began to thaw
 
 
 even as the snow kept coming.
 May 1st looked as Christmassy as many days have this spring.
 Steve took advantage of a thawed Munger Trail for a bike ride from Mahtowa to Moose Lake
 where loons were navigating around the still considerable ice on Moosehead Lake.
Nearby Spring Lake cleared more quickly
 
 and fields began to green up
 although the woods still harbor piles of snow as of late May.
 Flurries changed to fog and drizzle.
 
Ducks have returned to the local waters
as have the frogs (turn up your speakers)
 
while deer are boldly hanging around
 and something big dug a foot-wide hole in the front lawn.
 At first we feared a badger or skunk
 but then decided that a coyote probably widened a smaller hole
 in search of the Franklin's ground squirrels that are proliferating this year.
 Among the other welcome spring comings were Eclipse and her daughter Chandra, photographed in the Goatmobile by friend Laura
 who helped welcome Chandra to her new home.
 Eclipse is a sentimental purchase: she's the daughter of Mr. T.
She's now the noisiest goat in the herd
and feisty enough to knock heads with any of the older girls. 
  Chandra is a true Alpine mountain-climber
 
 who loves to play on the stump pile.
 Eventually she will move to Laura's Split Rock Farm.
 The new girls spent a few weeks getting used to the place before being integrated into the herd.
 On those rare warmer days Viva and Geisha go out to play
 mostly on the furniture
and on the skywalk in the back pasture
 
where they bully the younger bucklings --
 
 not that anything could slow the guys down for long.
 The older does take advantage of the better weather to browse the pasture
 
 bask in the sun
 or -- best of all --
 eat trees
 
while Barb & the new girls watch.
 With all the spring comings, there were some goings, too.  Myky
 Rosado
 and his brother Chorizo have moved to Split Rock Farm.
 We miss them, but we're delighted that they get to stay together and that they're getting such good care.  They get to play with Laura's own crop of young bucklings, Starsky & Hutch and Willie & Waylon.