Raining, again...must be spring

The rain is coming down in thick gray sheets this morning, and I've exchanged moving things around in the garden for sitting inside with a book and the cat. I have a stack of books waiting for me next week when the semester ends, and big plans for doing some nature journaling and plein air painting in the nearby salt marshes.

This spotted turtle picture is by David Carroll, naturalist/illustrator and recent recipient of a MacArthur genius grant, http://www.davidmcarroll.com/david.htm . I have a print by him of a spotted salamander on my study walls, and as it rains today I keep thinking of all the little creatures about to try and cross the road as part of some perilous rite of passage. When it rains near my parents' house the little red efts come out in droves, to get to the other side where, I suppose, the grass is always greener and the ponds have tastier weeds. Isn't that the way of it?