Sunday Salon

I just recently discovered The Sunday Salon and signed up yesterday, so this was my first official Sunday of salon-ing, and naturally it turned out to be a day when I wasn't really able to get much reading done. Must try to do better in the future.

I did spend some time reading a lot of other people's blogs, and I've really enjoyed sampling those. Otherwise, my reading activity today so far has been confined to the New York Times Book Review during breakfast. But later tonight, I'm hoping to finish up The Concord Quartet, which I've been reading as part of my Winter Reading Challenge line-up – and for pleasure, of course.

Sunday is usually our "errand" day, and reading gets put off until after dinner. But it was a great day for being out and about, so I can't complain. Still cold out – definitely still winter here in Northern Virginia. But we had lots of sun today, especially with this being the first daylight-savings day. I love daylight savings time – wish we could go on "saving daylight" all year long.

While we were out running around, I noticed the forsythia is finally starting to bloom. And this morning, two purple finches, male and female, came and hopped around on our balcony for a while, poking into the empty pots and baskets out there. Last year we had a pot of dried-up ivy plants on the balcony, and the finches came and harvested nesting material from it. Could these two possibly be remembering that stash from last year? That would make them an old married couple – a nice thought even if a ditsy one.

So spring is on its way, even though it seems to be slow in coming this year. Soon, the cherry blossoms will be out – right on time, this year, so the predictions tell us. And then the swallows and the tourists will swoop back in, and it'll be summer before I know it! Wow, here I was thinking the year was just getting started and it's already nearly over!