Blasphemy, I know!

I've always stated that I like living where I do because I get to experience all four seasons. Granted some are more intense than others but regardless of their severity, we get all four. I can give you reasons to love and enjoy each one.

Fall - my personal favorite, cooler weather, magnificent fall colors in the foliage, football, celebrating Thanksgiving   (love me some turkey and dressing), ,
Winter - Christmas, decorating for the holidays, sitting around the fireplace, SNOW!
Spring - warmer weather, flowers and trees in bloom, lush green grass sprouting, baseball, 
Summer - hmmm, well let me get back with you on this one, can't seem to come up with any reasons to love summer and 100* weather

However, as much as I love the seasons, I also have a few reasons to hate intensely dislike them ... and for the last couple of weeks it has been especially evident what I dislike about Spring.

Weather wise it's been a roller coaster of a ride. I like this kind of roller coaster   but not the weather kind. What's a weather roller coaster? Just when you get use to the bright sunshine, brilliant blue skies, and soft gentle winds you get punched in the gut with severe weather. Raging thunderstorms, intense lightening, strong winds, falling trees, and hail have caused several sleepless nights here.

Not to mention the up-and-down temperatures. Windows open, windows closed. Heaters off, fans on, fans off, heaters on. Capris and short sleeves on Monday, jeans and sweat shirts on Tuesday.

My head is spinning, make it stop.

Speaking of heads - mine is all clogged up. It's caused by the dozens of pollen that cover Georgia each year. I know pollen is necessary and all but it's just. no. fun to have around. Some can't be seen but tearing eyes, scratchy throats, coughing, and sneezing are evidence these pollens are in the air. And then there is the film of yellow dust that covers everything, this is also the pollen you  feel in your nose and throat .... pine pollen that makes outdoor furniture, cars, and pets change color.  Here's what a black cat looks like after rolling around in the pollen.

Have I mentioned how much I HATE pine pollen?

Speaking of pine trees, there are these things everywhere. After a little research I've got a name to put on them. They are catkins aka male pine cones. They release pine pollen. They also fall off the trees and create a mess.
After our last storm they literally covered the driveway and back porch, in addition to the grass. With Dale, Eddie, and the dogs going in and out multiple times a day, they begin to creep into my house.   Starting at the back door and continuing all the way to the bathroom floor in the back of the house  I find a trail of them. It doesn't matter how often I sweep and vacuum, they're always there.

Speaking of green folliage, what the heck is this?   Apparently overnight my home has been overtaken by an alien. This stuff has literally sprung up overnight and appears to be on it's way to covering my entire house.  I'm a little afraid to go to sleep for fear that I won't be able to get out tomorrow!

Then, there's these guys   you're friendly but un-neighborly carpenter bee. I've had a hard time convincing Eddie that these things are harmless to humans. They're only deadly to your home. They don't bite or sting but can eat your home almost as fast as termites. Every year they show up and every year we fight the battle. My husband likes to get out there and fill the holes they bore with caulk. Not the best solution since all they need to do is turn around and burrow their way out another hole. My youngest son likes to get out there and "play" badminton with them. Effective but not very humane.

Me... I just try to ignore them. That is until they decide to come INTO the house. Monday there were two of those suckers in here. Once in, they weren't very happy and were frantically trying to find their way out again. Neither was very smart because all they kept doing was buzzing and throwing themselves at the window panes. Being the ever so resourceful WOMAN that I am, I got out my trusty butterfly net  and showed them the way. I probably should have squished 'em dead now that I think about it. I just have a hard time killing God's creatures.

Speaking of butterfly nets - if you're wondering why I have one, it's not to catch butterflies. Nope I catch birds with it! You see, we have a problem with our back porch screen door.  It never gets closed.

I didn't say it wouldn't close, it just d.o.e.s.  n.o.t get closed. You see, it's much easier to let the dogs out into the back yard by just opening the door and shooing them on their way. If I had to go and open the screen door too .... well, we wouldn't want to exert ourselves and over do it now would we?

Anywho, as a consequence of leaving the screen door open all the time we frequently find birds on the back porch. They're real good about flying in but not so much flying back out. Consequently, I have to get out there with my trusty butterfly net and coax them out.

Let me tell you - this is not an easy task. They're scared and not very trusting so they tend to fly back and forth from one side of the porch to the other. I have to chase them while dodging all the junk on our Sandford and Son porch. Not having the stealth like skills of this creatureI seldom catch them in mid flight. But once they light on the railing I have a good chance of netting them. (Don't worry, while I'm outside chasing birds on the porch this girl is safely inside flinging herself at the windows trying to get out. I know she wants to "help" but I'm not having any of that)

Sometimes the birds aren't very cooperative and get overly rambunctious. They fly kamikaze style into the screens, knocking themselves senseless (off course they did get trapped on a screen porch to begin with so I'm not so sure how much sense they actually have anyway). As they stagger around on the floor it's rather easy to scoop them up and take them out to the yard. I usually watch over them until they come out of their coma and fly off. And Spunky? She's still inside flinging herself against the window.

What is this leading up to you ask? Well, a couple of weeks ago I came home to find a bird on the back porch. I went out and did the above mentioned dance and got her out. How do I know it was a "her" you ask? Well, after shooing her away I turned and noticed this.  It's a bird house that never quite made it out into the yard and has been sitting on the Sandford and Son back porch for months. Look closely,  what's that? While we were away at church that morning this mama bird was gettin' down making herself a nest.

Oh, dilemma, what should I do? If I leave it there this girl is going to be stalking it big time. Add to it the dogs, the husband, and a little boy coming and going 500 times a day and I doubt very seriously mama bird is going to want to take up permanent  residence here.

I felt really bad because she had obviously gone to a lot of work but I couldn't just leave it and risk having bird feathers and body parts everywhere. So, I carefully took the house, with nest intact, and placed it outside of the porch.

Long story short (aren't you glad I'm finally getting there?) mama bird not only never came back but apparently was forced to leave her unborn babies behind. I realized today there were already eggs in the nest , eggs that never hatched and never produced itty, bitty, baby birds. Birds that will never get the chance to chirp and fill the spring air with song.

Sigh.

YIKES!  What a depressing note to end a blog on. Oh well, there you have it sometimes even the best of things has a rotten smell to it.

And Spring - well, yes, I love and I hate it. So there, deal with it!