I carried my take out supper outside, to eat at the patio table, and tethered that big Blue dog to his new 30’ tie out leash. Next thing I knew, the neighborhood children, who’d been playing a few doors down, migrated to the edge of our yard and asked if they could say, “Hi” to Blue. Since he was sitting at the edge of the yard looking longingly at them I said, “Yes”. Next thing I knew the four children had Blue chasing his chewed up soccer ball and runnin’ laps across the backyard. I managed to eat a few bites of supper, here and there. In between I was untangling the leash, checking on the rest of my family inside and quickly explaining to my fry eatin’ boys, that their friends were in the yard to see Blue. He’s Mr. Popular after all. The air is cooler tonight, in a nice way. Refreshing. Not too shivering. April has begun.