NINE

It's Cassandra's birthday today: nine happy years of blogging! Thanks for being here with me. I'd be delighted to hear from you and know how long you've been reading here. I've loved writing this blog, but it's the readers who've kept me going -- thanks to each and every one of you.

And since it's a glorious warm day here in Montreal, I feel like everyone is celebrating. J. says, "as soon as you see girls riding on the handlebars of their boyfriend's bikes, you know it's spring!" I watched a big puffy male pigeon courting a female who was trying her best to ignore him, and as I walked through the park this morning the redwing blackbirds were singing like crazy in trees full of buds, so those special spring behaviors seemto be bursting forth and spreading across all the kingdoms: green, furred, and feathered. In the country there are probably froggy choruses already too, but that seems as amazing for this time of year as it is for me to be without a coat and hat. I hope it's nice where you are, too.