Changing seasons

The calendar says that winter's over, but when you live in a city like Calgary that can have all four seasons in one day, that's usually not the best way to figure out what the weather will be.



A better clue is the changing aural landscape: on the nice days, when it's a joy to sit outside or go for a long walk, I've been hearing more chickadees, and then they get drowned out by male robins staking out territory. Although I haven't seen one yet, I've heard several different peregrine falcon calls as well.



And then there's this pair of house finches (which I earlier mistakenly identified as redpolls) that spent several days in the backyard, mostly around the window that's behind me where I'm usually working on the computer. With my computer/reading glasses on, I couldn't tell what was flitting behind me, but finally, after a few days of trying to get a picture of them, was successful.



The male, in particular, has been quite persistent, although I think they may have given up. I've not seen many house finches or redpolls in Calgary, so I'm hoping they've found a good home.



Besides the days getting longer, the other sure sign of spring here is that the arctic hares are changing their coats. This one must have sat there a good twenty minutes or so, letting me take several pictures but not letting me get too close.

And yes, the last four weeks have been busy: summer rerun showed successfully in Nassau last weekend, my demo at Fish Creek Public Library on St. Patrick's Day was a hit, although it was a little strange entertaining the fifteen or twenty people who showed up after hearing my interview on CBC Radio One's Daybreak Alberta which aired that morning.

Work is progressing well on the commissioned installation piece I'm knitting, one of my other writing tasks in the next while is to develop the text for the new book (as well as applying for residencies and shows, which has taken a bit of a hiatus lately), and I'm hoping to nail down what's happening in June, July, and August sooner rather than later.