Spring and all that it brings

Except in the shadiest of shady places, the ice and snow are gone. There are no leaves on the trees or bushes, so sunlight can get into places that will be blocked a few weeks from now. The sun is high and clear day can be very bright, indeed. At the camp, we noticed the first few bugs swirling in the sunlight.

My father's friend, Ted, took down a few maples trees that were posing a danger to his house. Ted's been bringing a VWful each time he comes for a visit in payment for a sauna. The ground around the wood that Ted had left is soft and uneven, so it was difficult for my father to load the wood onto the small trailer that he pulls with his garden tractor. Yesterday, he and I cleaned up the area. I filled the trailer and he drove it to his woodshed.

When we got home, I dozed off during the Red Sox game (even though it was a good game). Sandra worked in the yard. We have many nice flowers coming into bloom, thanks to her good works. And then it was time for me to finish the taxes. As I've mentioned before, most of the time comes from trying to locate the required bits of data; the calculations themselves aren't bad and take little time. One part of the tax software had me talking to myself (and to Sandra), but I was able to find an answer online, in the part of the company's web site where users write in to ask and answer questions. The forms and the accompanying payment are ready for signature and mailing; we'll wait a day or two before putting the envelopes in the mail.

From the Almost A Good Idea Dept. comes a coffee maker for your car. My fellow travelers certainly need one more distraction for their ride to work in the morning. This site, as with most traffic simulators, doesn't take into account the somewhat unique behaviors of Massachusetts drivers. There was a study at either Harvard or M.I.T. about 10 years ago. The researchers were stunned when an ambulance would be dispatched to a busy highway. The other drivers would deliberately get in front of the ambulance, using its lights and sounds as a way to clear a path through traffic.

If you find me with a sucking chest wound, it's ok to call 911 instead of looking up treatment procedures on my Blackberry. By the way, Sucking Chest Wound would be a great name for a rock band, except that it's already been used.

Yesterday's New York Times carried a wedding announcement for a couple married by a Universal Life Church minister. I'm assuming that it's the same ULC that guys tried to use in the 60s to obtain a draft deferrent because they were clergy. Anyone can be a ULC minister, just for the asking.