As you read this, I am probably in St. Louis, visiting with family (and eager for the opportunity to return home). A certain pack of nephews and a niece (what’s the collective word for these relations?) always visit Grandma and Grandpa over the Easter weekend, and unless I fly to various parts of the country, it’s my best chance to see them and hand out gold dollars. Plus its the first chance I’ll have to see my newest nephew, who is still not six months old.

When I was looking for someone to do the repair work on the overflow spillway, I called the feed store in the town near Roundrock and asked for recommendations. The man who answered named a couple of names and gave me what was, for him, their phone numbers. He merely gave me the last four digits. They all share the same area code and exchange, so all I needed to know was the last four numbers. I like that small-town touch.

Mighty Queequeg has discovered birds. He sees them flying overhead and barks at them, thinking he has chased them from the sky!

Have you been to the latest Festival of the Trees over at yet? If you haven’t, why don’t you take the opportunity now?

We’re already looking toward next month when the Festival will be hosted by Peg at. She’s particularly interested in links about trees in flower, which is happening a lot right now here in the northern hemisphere. You can send your links to Peg at amberapple (at) msn (dot) com or by using the. Her deadline for submissions is April 27.

has collected links to a number of carnivals that you might like. At least once a month they post those links and deadlines. (Did you know they now have more than 800 nature-oriented blogs as members?)

We’re always on the look out for new hosts for the , too. In fact, the June 1 slot is open right now (and it’s calling your name). If you’re interested, just let me or Dave know. We’ll give you all the help you need.

I’ve been getting lots of helpful input on my idea of stocking my lake. Thanks to all. From what I’ve learned, it think I’ll steer away from the hybrid bluegill. But I still need to research sources, so it may still be a while before I begin this adventure. The recent rains we’ve had have kept the lake nicely full. It’s as though cosmic forces want me to stock the lake!

What’s Pablo reading now? I’ve picked up a biography called Mockingbird by Charles Shields. It’s not really a biography since so much information is left out (Harper Lee did not cooperate), and even the author acknowledges this, calling it a “portrait.” I’m not too far into it, but it does have a superficial feel to it. Still, I will finish it and glean whatever I can from it.

Missouri calendar:

Easter

Copperheads leave winter dens this week.

Painted turtles bask in sun for warmth. Posted by: Roundrockjournal    Source

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