Good spring day.

Just feeling a little down today -- wanted to give myself a reminder that it is spring and there's a lot to enjoy out there.

The flowers!

The dogwoods!

The buds!

The... What is wrong with this tree?

This tree is a slob. I would think that this is a spring thing, that the tree has gotten bigger and is shedding its old bark, but I've seen this tree many times and it looks like some kind of caveman tree all the time. I call it Ogg.

I think this may be a river birch, or Betula nigra, but I have no idea. I don't know from trees. Anyway, it needs to pull up its socks and get its act together.

Sadly, spring also means the return of the ticks, and I've already pulled a bunch of them off little dog Nipper. He takes a tick-killing medication and wears a flea and tick collar, but the little creeps love his fuzz. So I went out back with two bottles of bug spray and drenched all the high grass and reeds at the back of the yard. Napalm for ticks.

Well, I feel a little better; I hope you do too. It's not that nature brings me peace and joy. Usually it brings me bug bites, sunburn, concussions... but it does remind me that nature is just as imperfect and sometimes as ugly as I am. So I fit right in.