I really love my houseplants. Every morning I walk around the house, telling the houseplants “good morning” as I check to see if they need to be watered. As I pass them during the day I feel a surge of happiness just seeing them on shelves. This is very new for me. I used to dread houseplants because I was very good at killing them. Now I am very good at keeping them alive (or at least choosing plants that don’t easily die).

This morning I saw my first-of-year pair of backyard Gray Catbirds. Delight! At dinner (on the deck) we heard the ice cream truck for the first time this year.