Meanwhile, back at the ranch, it's been a week of hospitals, slumber parties and spring, as my dad works through some complication from dialysis, family and friends monkey pile at our house in support of the paterfamilias, and signs of spring erupt all around us.

​It's time again for pools of tadpoles, bales of turtles and baby ducks galore.  The ducks must know when my niece is in town, because they line up waiting for her to come out and feed them, then leap into the air at her arrival.  Tiny feathered cuties scurry between her feet, fearless and hungry.  

We went for a walk recently and came across a mockingbird on a low tree branch giving a concert.  So we stopped and listened, about six feet away from him, eye to eye.  To our delight, he just kept on singing, regaling us with song after song, including even the screech of a hawk.  We thought he might eventually run out of songs or fly away, but no, he was content to entertain us for as long as we stood there.  He provided our theme music as we walked off into the sunset.

Our neighbors have begun to close up their houses for the season and return north, as temperatures rise and days lengthen.  The art season will wind down over the next month, but there are still a few events ahead to entice folks outdoors.  This weekend will be my first ever outdoor festival with the Delray Artists League at Veterans Park on Saturday and Sunday. If you're free, come on out for a bit of malarkey.  It's just what the doctor ordered.

For more information and directions, click here.