So I woke up this morning at 10am.

In case you think I’m a heathen (which I am, really), we have church on Saturday nights. So I wasn’t just sleeping through church. (Though you could make a case that most churches don’t start that early anyway.) Also, we ended up playing cards after church last night til 2am, so that’s a solid 8 hours.

I could have slept another hour, but I looked outside and it was SUNNY. It looked so inviting. I keep smelling spring on the horizon. So I decided to get up, and have a lazy morning, giving me some extra time til Ben comes to pick me up for our plans today. (Sunday plans: Arrested Development marathon with friends, followed by an Andrew Peterson show.)

But here’s the kicker. By the time I showered and got outside…IT WAS CLOUDY. And consistently cloudy, not just like the sun took a break. That just not okay.

I went outside to read anyway (still Chuck Klosterman’s “IV: A Decade of Curious People and Dangerous Ideas”), even though it was a little cold.

At some point, in the middle of an article Klosterman wrote about goths at Disneyland (no, really), a squirrel ran up a tree in my across-the-street-neighbor’s yard (the one with all the random crap on the porch)  puffs up his tail, and sings. Well, I’m imagining it was something like singing, expect in squirrel. Kinda like Bjork. In any case, I’m assuming he was looking for a lady friend. If I spoke squirrel, I’m sure I would have heard something like: “Hey there laaaaadies. It’s spring and I’m ready for some sweet lovin. I hope you don’t mind that I wear dresses in the shape of swans.”*

It reminded me of a similar thing that happened spring of last year. It was a bit warmer, but I was reading on my porch (in my last house). I watched two squirrels chase each other for a good five minutes across the road. Up and down trees, back and forth. It wasn’t unlike any other relationship, really.

And so, sun or not, I guess squirrels in heat means spring is on the way. It’s about freaking time.

M

*This is, of course, a reference to the infamous “swan dress” that Bjork wore to the 2001 Oscars. It was ridiculous, but no where near the most ridiculous thing she’s ever worn in public - it’s simply the most famous ridiculous thing she’s ever worn in public.