Ducklings in the distance from yesterday's Friday afternoon decompression walk along the river.

Today I reacquainted myself with the glorious glory of the back forty. I live a Wizard of Oz life--whenever I feel like something is lacking it turns out it is right in my backyard. This morning I felled a few trees, bucked 'em up and got ready to put in next winter's wood. Then I just enjoyed the sunshine and the tranquility of our wonderful home. If there's a should--and there shouldn't be--I didn't boil off any sap. Matter of fact, I'm behind the 8-ball on that score and it's hard to tell whether it's going to be much of a season for maple syrup anyway, what with the temperatures forecast to be in the 50's in the daytime and not dropping below freezing at night. I only tapped a few trees, so even if the sap runs, our output will be limited.

We've committed ourselves to eating as much food as possible out of our freezers, and, believe it or not, it's been a fun experience. I mean, you just never know what you'll find. Yesterday Cara dug out 8 lbs. of green beans. She roasted up a big batch with olive oil and garlic and, let me tell you, it was like eating candy. Makes me feel like we've gotten a head start on spring cleaning--too bad there's not a similarly amusing way to clean out the basement.