The Roman diet

The Romans of old were faced with the problem of feeding the entire Roman army at an absolute minimum cost, while ensuring that its diet would be sufficient to keep all members strong and healthy enough to fight and win the battles needed to establish and maintain the entire Roman Empire.

George and I spent the day Wednesday in Rockland. It was a fun day. We saw Susanne and Denis very busy shopping.

Another column done by hand. My favorite printer needs repair beyond new ink. So here goes!

“Bed is too small for my tiredness. Give me a hilltop with trees. Tuck a cloud up under my head. Lord, blow the moon out, please.”

No repellent is 100 percent effective and some can be harmful to small children and pets. The good news is that one has choices. Products containing DEET – diethyltoluamide — have always been the go-to, but we are now learning that DEET can build up and cause toxic health levels in small children. To avoid this, always wash repellent off every day and before reapplying. There are lots of other repellent options one can to go, both at home and on the shelf.

The winter of 2016-2017 is coughing up a last few attempts with snow, sleet, freezing rain, and just plain rain, with the possibility of something over the weekend – April Fool’s Day. No worries, it’s happened before and we can do this as spring is knocking on the door.

Birders desiring to see the “woodcock dance” brave the cool damp evening air, with flashlight in hand, visiting an open field. To listen for the eerie peent call and see the downward display flight and “song” of the American Woodcock, Scolopax minor, portends an interesting evening. The “song” is actually a product of the bird’s wings.

Daylight saving

Roughly some 65 percent of the year is under daylight saving time. This alone should tell us how popular it is. From what I’ve read, it’s even the ancients who were pushing the idea of a religion that said, “Let there be light.”

How disappointing can it get when one is reduced to looking for a dripping roof as a sign of spring? My usual harbinger of spring, a clump of snowdrops by the front step, was unfortunately still buried in a snowdrift from our Ides of March blizzard at the time of the official arrival of spring on Monday.

Happy spring, everyone. We made it through another Maine winter. Although the calendar says March 20, Mother Nature could still have a few surprises left for us, but we know that winter is finally winding down. We will be complaining about black flies and too much traffic before we know it. The last few days, I have noticed that the male goldfinches have a few spots of bright yellow reappearing here and there on their winter plumage, and the purple finches are looking much brighter as well. We have also gained well over three hours of daylight. Time to plant the seedlings!