The divine novelty of the first warm days of the year.  It is hard to fathom at this point in the season that I will take these days for granted as the occasional warm day turns into a series.  Today is my first barefoot day.  As soon as it is warm enough I gleefully shed socks and shoes and banish them until autumn, or until I am required to behave in a civilized fashion.  My pale digits peek out from under my jeans experiencing the sunshine warmth and breeze for the first time in months.  The squish of the still partially frozen yard, the roughness of the sidewalk, the sharp edges of the stepping stones in my garden, the texture of the wood floor, porch, and my laundry perch.  I reacquaint my feet with all these sensations.  Now that they are no longer entombed in their winter garb I need to paint my toenails happy summer colours.

As I am enjoying my barefoot freedom my beautiful dog, that I have just brushed, is rolling in the hay that my husband has laid around the backyard.  The hay is to combat the mire that our backyard becomes in the spring.  The dog appears to believe it was placed for her olfactory and tactile pleasure.  I am okay with that, but someone else can denude her of the straw sticking in her fur.