April Wamhoff

Springtime on the island is always busy. There’s boat and docks to be put in and downed trees and other debris from the winter to be hauled out.  The cabin is always a mess because I always wait too long to leave. There are all the things I packed to be gone- for who knows how long- and all the things I collected while I was gone, that have to be hauled back and put away. But it’s so good to be home. We’re back!
“We” includes a lot of beings. Of course, myself and the dogs. “We” are 5 strong in that department now. Nibs, Echo and Luna, like me, are glad to be home. They’ve been on alert for all the squatters that inhabited the place in our absence. Ruby and Bull, the newbies, are older dogs and trying to determine just how much of this place is their responsibility to guard.
The Robins-es are back on the electrical box and have raised their first nest-full of babies already. I put the old sleeping bags back on the cement again so they could have a softer landing when they left the nest. (I call it the landing strip!)  I question the necessity of this for them and the sanity of it for me, but I do it anyway. I makes me feel better to think I helped out those little neighbors.
We have new neighbors, the Wrens-es, that set up housekeeping in the rose bushes near the path to the doorway. My sister noticed them in the nick of time when she was cleaning out the bushes. The intrusion and near disaster don’t seem to have made them any worse for the wear but they have certainly slowed progress on the bushes. There are at least three tiny birds in the nest and some very busy parents trying to keep them fed.
The hummingbirds are back, though not in great numbers-yet!
The garter snakes are back and I’m happy for that. I hadn’t seen many since last year’s shoreline disaster. The ones I’ve seen are just little guys, but I hope the bigger ones are around. 
Trevor the Toad is back. I moved and expanded the bucket garden so he may be a little bit annoyed with me. That’s his hang-out. I have confidence that he will find it, though, and enjoy his sprawling new estate.
Though I haven’t actually laid eyes on the beaver family, I’m sure they are around. They took down a tree in my neighbor’s shoreline just after they put their dock in.
Curiously missing are the bass that lived under the docks. I suspect that last year’s dock damage and subsequent dock replacement dislocated them.  I hope they come back or maybe some new ones. They are twitchy neighbors and fun to watch.
Of course, there’s black flies and mosquitos and biting ants, oh my, but they have their place. There’s spiders and crawly things, too. 
I think we’re all glad to be home.