Yay. Around 6:45 AM, I was sitting with Fluffy, drinking my tea in front of the (extremely old) little 13-inch TV set in the guest room, watching Going Places (1938) on Turner Classic Movies, when all of the sudden -- what was that? Fluffy, did you hear that??

I muted the sound and sure enough, it was a bird singing! At daylight! Wow. Spring is really on its way, isn't it, gang? It was the cardinal singing -- and the cardinals have been around all winter. But for some reason, he felt like singing at dawn this morning. It really made me feel happy. I instantly remembered how much I love the spring, and taking my 3-mile walks at dawn all summer long. I can't wait!

We still have snow everywhere, with a few more snow showers expected later this week. It's been the snowiest winter on record around here, in fact. I love snow, as everyone must know by now, but I also can't wait for St. Paddy's Day, for Darby O'Gill and the Little People, for one more Guinness, and for spring.

Even though I am on the old home stretch regarding edits on Freak Parade -- I am really, seriously, almost done -- I went plunging into another one of my depressions the minute my plane left New York. All reasons to feel excited about living evade me and the black veil falls between me and life. Not the best frame of mind for productive editing. So I decided to try reading for awhile, instead. I've been reading Patti Smith's memoir, Just Kids, to try and lose my sense of place for awhile. (Of course, her memoir takes place in New York City and Paris, so it's not really helping me lose my sense of place all that well. Plus I just got to the part where she meets and becomes friends with Jim Carroll. Ack. Heartache on all fronts. But oh well, life goes on. Onward, gang. I still have God's creatures all over the place and they help me weather everything.) See ya, gang.