Tonight I am restless. It was a very warm day here in NJ and the night has not really cooled off much. I feel the need to go outside and just sit under the full (or nearly) moon. Like an ancient pagan goddess I sit drinking in the moonlight. Forget the Pope who is in the city and about to hand out blessings. I’ve left my Catholic upbringing well behind me. Right now nature is the only blessing I need.

The frogs lend a perfect backdrop to a moonlit night. A symphony of nature, and the only admission fee is simply sitting there. No crowds, no tickets. The only fee they ask is the time and patience to lend an ear.

The “peepers,” or young baby frogs, are the sopranos. Their constant peeping is the perfect foil for the bigger frogs who come in at just the right moment with their bass voices. Next, the tenors pitch in with their slightly higher tones. They make up their own musical piece as they go along, and somehow it just works. Completely mesmerizing.

I find myself lost in their music, drifting off into sleep while sitting on the hard board decking that leads to our back yard. But as much as I would like to, I can’t sleep in the yard under the full moon. With much resistance, I make myself come inside and to bed.

Spring has finally arrived! The forsythia hedge in front of the house is in glorious full bloom, filling my world with its cheery yellowyness. (Do you like that word?) You almost need sunglasses on in order to look at it, it’s that bright. Above it is seen through the panes of my front door. My neighbor Kim told me that every time she quickly glances over at our house it looks like a big yellow bus is parked in front of it! I can certainly understand why.

The weather has been gorgeous; sunny and warm this week with even higher temperatures in the 70s expected for the next few days. I’ve gotten out and raked the flowers beds clean of their protective winter covering of leaves and dead vegetation. I was surprised to see how much was coming up underneath all that. And just look at the progress my daffodils have made!

Things have been pretty quiet around here. I’ve been on my own (except for dogs and cats) since Rick left for Las Vegas last Friday. It gets lonely without him and I miss him a lot, but the normal daily patterns eventually shift and settle into new ones. I talk to myself (a lot), and to the animals. I’ve watched many episodes of “What Not to Wear” and am convinced that my entire closet should be tossed. I’ve taken the dogs almost daily for a walk. I’ve read two books. I’ve become accustomed to being by myself.

But all that is about to change in a big way. This afternoon I pick my sister up from the train station for her six day visit. She likes to get [already] noisy Alex “talking” even more than he normally does. Then within a few hours of her arrival, Rick will be home again. It will be quite a change from the past week, but I’m ready!

While the dogs were hungrily devouring their breakfasts this morning, I walked around opening the curtains at the front of the house. When I opened the curtain in the office there was something not quite right about my view. There was something big and black near the bird feeding station and it wasn’t a crow. A bear! Finally! I haven’t seen a bear around since last September.

No pics because I didn’t have time. It didn’t find any fresh bird seed so it did not stick around. It started off for my neighbor’s across the road, so I headed for the phone instead of my camera to warn her in case her dogs were outside. The bear was walking at a pretty good clip and was soon out of my range of vision. The amount of ground he/she could cover in just a few minutes by just walking was amazing.

It was a fairly big bear but I can’t be certain it was the same bear that was hanging around in my trees eating acorns last year. It might have been, but I think that bear was just a bit bigger than this one. Neither bear had any ear tags so for sure it was not Ursa, Doris or either of the two cubs, Major and Minor, from the first year.

My neighbor Luke, who lives at the other end of our street, told me he saw a mother with two tiny cubs down by the pond the other day. I was so hoping that they would come up here. It’s so much fun to watch the interaction between mom and cubs. Since moving here I have a whole new respect and admiration for bears instead of just fearing them. I love having them around! I have hopes that this could be a good bear year.

I don’t know about you, but I’ve never been a big fan of bran muffins. Visions of dry, mealy bites of food come to mind, don’t they? That was why we were pleasantly surprised when we tried out this recipe from America’s Test Kitchens (or Cook’s Illustrated). We happened to catch this cooking segment on Food Network a few weeks back and they made them look so good.

They are absolutely delicious: moist, chewy, full of tasty raisins (we like the golden ones best), and made with good-for-you ingredients. We’ve made them twice now and they last us all week for breakfast. One is enough to fill us up for the entire morning. They have staying power!

Why not give them a try? I’m sure you’ll agree they are the best bran muffins you’ve ever eaten.

Sorry for my outburst of personal misery the other day. Sometimes it all just gets to me. I know my small problems are nothing compared with some of the awful things other people go through. I hate to be a whinger. Thank you all for your support via emails and comments (and even a visit!), it means a great deal to me.

On top of Sailor, Alex broke out in a horrendous “hot spot” on his face and needed treatment. It’s amazing how quickly they can crop up and become an infected and inflamed mess. Poor Alex is now sporting the newest dog fashion of the one-sided-facial-shave with the “must have” accessory—the plastic e-collar. Oh woe is he! Three times per day he has to have his antibiotics and his wound cleaned and spread with panalog. He is not the best of patients to be tended by one with not much patience. We are managing. My legs will have bruises for weeks and the furniture is also suffering the brunt of his inadequacies of maneuvering with a plastic cone on his head.

Sailor has started on the last chemo protocol that we can try. This one is a five week cycle. He gets two different drugs injected at the vet, then home with prednisone and another drug (Matulane). He goes back in 7 days for another injection and stays on the at-home meds for another week. After that he gets three weeks off. We won’t know if this one is working until after the second injection. We are hoping he can handle this protocol as there is a 30% chance that he could become sick from it (nausea, vomiting, diarrhea). It’s even more expensive than the previous treatment. The Matulane alone was $236.00 for 14 capsules! ouch.

It’s been gloomy and rainy all week, but it looks like the sun may just come out today. The grass outside my window is actually looking green and the forsythia hedge has a glow of yellow about it.