Mary had a Little Lamb

Flocks of lamb and sheep are uncommon here in the Tidewater part of Virginia.

So many people have never seen a lamb enjoying the first warm days of spring.

It is a lot of fun, actually.

No creature gets into the joy of a spring day better than a baby lamb does.

photo, morguefile.com

Lambs love to frolic in the warm spring sunshine.

They will also jump straight up into the air,

lifting off from all four feet.

It's as if they had springs on the bottom of their feet.

The first time I ever saw a lamb jump like that,

I was amazed. I remember running home to tell my mom 

that a lamb had jumped straight up into the air,

a fact she already knew but had never shared with me.

I guess some things are more difficult to work into a conversation than others.

If you've never seen a lamb jump, here's an opportunity.

It's a youtube video of a domesticated lamb jumping on its owner's bed.

It's pretty cute. To watch, click here on this link:

Lamb jumping on a bed

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Spring Flowers in Living Color

I'm traveling this weekend to an area that is still a little on the frosty side.

So I'm thinking I may need a little visual reminder of spring while I'm gone.

Here are some beautiful spring photos from morguefile.com:

Some kinds of lilies or iris, I'm not sure which. 

I love blue flowers:

These rose-pink and white dianthus are charming:

Nothing can lift the heart like a yellow daffodil:

Or violas:

Over the last decade, my heart has developed a fondness

for green flowers, like these from bloomfloraldesign.blogspot.com:

I love the way they mix with the white flowers.

And what montage of spring flowers would be complete without tulips?

Spring flowers--one of the best things about the season!

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Where the Deer and the Antelope (?) Play

This week I walked into my office and saw several deer,

including one fawn, grazing in the wide open field behind my office building.

fawn photo, morguefile.com

The field has thick trees and brush on both sides. 

At each end, massive office buildings form a barrier.

A small creek, barely visible under tall grass, 

cuts across the southern end of the field.

It is a perfect place for the deer to feed and soak up the sun.

A photo I took last year of the deer.

So I stood there and watched them for awhile.

Something about seeing wildlife going about their day 

is so relaxing. It makes us stop what we are doing

and enjoy a brief moment of quietude.

I went about my work and as I was preparing to leave for the day,

I looked out the window. 

No deer.

Suddenly, one ran from the grove of trees on the right.

He hurried across the meadow to the safety of the other stand of trees.

And then another one ran across.

And another.

All together, one-by-one, seven deer ran across the field as fast as they could.

I wondered if they were escaping a predator
although I can't imagine what,
since there aren't any that I know of there in the woods.

photo, morguefile.com

We could make guesses, 

but it seems peculiar to me that each deer ran alone across the grass

instead of all together in a group.

It reminded me of that old game we used to play as kids:

Red rover, red rover, we dare <Name> over.

Of course the game requires one side to link arms 

and stop the runner from breaking through the line.

And of course, deer would never do that.

But then again, who knows what they were doing under the cover of the trees?

Spring can make everyone a little silly.

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