Over the Backyard Fence

Joyce,  from This Side of the Pond, is the hostess for Wednesday’s Hodgepodge.

1.  As the saying goes, 'March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb.' Did your March come in roaring or like some other animal? Every month carries with it certain feelings, which is why some people love and anticipate December and others dread it. How do you feel about the month of March? 

March came in like a lamb on Sunday. In fact, I spent an hour outside on the back deck, reading and sipping coffee.Chickadees, finches, flickers, goldfinches, juncos, sparrows, red-breasted nuthatches were enjoying the beautiful weather. Typically, I’m ambivalent about March. But it has been so springlike this year, that I’m enjoying it and feel a burst of energy to accomplish projects in the house. I’m also a bit leery of March, because it can turn on a dime. 

2. Where in your life are you a lion? Where are you a lamb? 

Oh, my goodness. Reading about lions and their personalities, I learn that they are fierce, decisive, assertive, confident, and protective. There have been times in my life when it seemed necessary to be the lioness. However, these days, I’m taking on the habits and lifestyle of the lamb. Stereotypically,  they are described as passive, not very smart and easily led. However, apparently research has shown that they are actually quite complex. They are social beings, but with their own personalities. What some may see as timidity, I prefer to see as observant and thoughtful. These days I am trying to be a better listener and curb my usual chatter.

3. The Hodgepodge lands on National Pound Cake day. Do you like pound cake? If so do you have a favorite flavor? Let's play this or that-

I do like pound cake. Toasted pound cake with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, drizzled with chocolate syrup was one of our favorite desserts growing up. 

4. What makes you feel childlike wonder right now? 

The abundance of birds that will soon be migrating through our area. Already, mountain bluebirds are here, and I love watching them flitting about in a meadow, like bits of bright blue paper catching the sun.

5. What's one thing you need to add to your wardrobe to get ready for spring? If you're in the southern hemisphere, then answer for fall? 

Sandals for trail walks and camping.

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

I can’t seem to read enough books these days. I finish one and I’m off to find another. I usually like to let a day or two pass before starting another, giving the last read some time to ‘steep’ and just mull it over for a while, particularly if it’s been a good read that’s taken me someplace that I’m not quite ready to leave, or I’m not ready to let the characters go. Perhaps it’s the state of the world right now, where I can’t bear to watch the news and listen to the political  heads rambling on. So, instead, I go other places, other times. Most recently the Colorado prairie in 1913. Before that, to a lovely garden in England, seeing it through the eyes of three different generations. Currently, my grandson and I are visiting a small town where a housepainter and his wife have suddenly become the guardians for a family of penguins!