March 25, 2007

Blogging live and direct today from the Cleveland area. Here we are on the western fringe of the Appalachian Plateau. This is a land of rolling hills, beech-maple-hickory-hemlock forests and fast-moving rivers that spill down from the uplands of the St. Lawrence River-Ohio River divide and into Lake Erie.

After two dreary days, today dawned bright and crisp. Last night's chorus of spring peepers was replaced by a medley of avifauna. Grackles, red-winged blackbirds, red-bellied woodpeckers, blue jays, cardinals, song sparrows, flickers and canada geese were just a few of the species seen and heard.

The temperature right now at nearby Cuyahoga County Airport is 54 degrees. Looking out at the homestead's woodlot, there are blooming snow drops and emerging daffodils along the edges. The greening grass along the woods contrasts nicely with the brown and gray tones of the trees and leafy forest floor.