All afternoon, there was noise of machinery at a house up the street, and the occasional scent of damp earth. I didn't go to look, but the digging going on is probably to build a new leach lines for a septic system. Most of the systems on this block are probably due for replacement, and the exceedingly rainy winter has likely hastened the imminent collapse of many of them. It may prove to be a noisy spring.
There was also the persistent smell of skunk on the breeze this afternoon. Since skunks seldom venture out in daylight, unless they are sick (and that usually means rabid), I suspect that one of them must have been hit by a car in the early hours and has lain stinking in the warmth all day. This is also the season of road kill, when the inexperienced new generation of small beasts ventures out at the same time that the motorists increase in number due to the pleasant weather. Spring here is not without its drawbacks.
With nightfall, a calm as soft as the mild air has fallen, and I am going to go out and watch Venus descend, and enjoy the other stars before the moon rises to pale the sky and diminish their brightness.
