April Showers

It's still winter on top of Big Bearpen - I ran up there again this morning to check - but Spring is making even more advances down here in our sheltered little valley, especially as we are having some April showers today.  This light, silvery rain that comes down in April really brings everything out in what seems like a matter of hours.  Suddenly, walking down the sidewalk, we notice these hostas thrusting up vigorously out of the pine straw - they grow an inch or two a day:

All down the road, they make a lovely green band of new growth.  Last year, we were dining on our deck and watched a deer amble up the road and nibble at them, but so far this year they seem unscathed, although there have been close deer sitings down in the valley.

And the tulips of yesterday have been joined by a whole fellowship of the beautiful flowers, all in a row along the fence:

Today for the first time I noticed blossoms on the apple trees.  The deer don't care about these blossoms and tender shoots, but I am afraid they may make incursions into the yard if they do produce a crop of apples, and there is no good solution - our tabby cat is not the deterrent that a barking dog would have been in the past.

What a glorious time of year to run!  If only the pollen wasn't so thick in the air - the worst in ten years, they are predicting. 

But in this most beautiful time of year there will be no complaining from this Highlands Roadrunner.