Springtime Delights

Warm enough to read outside this afternoon -- 1861, but I didn't have enough time for much of it, as usual. (Though I did read an interesting section about the Wide Awakes.) The grass has greened up, bushes are budding, and early flowers face the sun. A few pioneering insects are out and about.

At Moraine Hills State Park last weekend, frog-song was my favorite harbinger of spring. It was warm enough to drive with the windows down, and the distinct sound of throaty frogs rose from the ponds near the road. No doubt singing the chorus common to male creatures: pick-me pick-me pick-me pick-me pick-me.

Or maybe the more harmonious among them were singing the amphibian equivalent of this. Being cold-blooded, they don't experience fever, but then again the song isn't talking about literal fever anyway.

It isn't exactly a springtime thing -- there's no tradition of this in Japan that I know of -- but recently Yuriko fried some gyoza (potsticker) wrappers in olive oil and then sprinkled them with powdered sugar.

Crispy and sweet. They were a big hit with everyone who lives here.