You can tell Spring is here by various ways other than daffodils in bloom. At my house it arrives when I open the back door to let the dog out in the morning and see a duck couple swimming in my pool. It happens every year.

We have the pool covered for the season but it collects rain water and leaves, and the water gets mucky and high. The darn ducks fly over and have a conversation among themselves, only to decide this would be a great place to spend a few weeks. We don't usually open the pool until the end of April or the first of May. The first time it happened I thought it would be fun to watch them. Little did I know their game plan. They spotted my neighbor's bird feeder and made pigs of themselves daily. Like me, she thought it was nice to watch the ducks. Like me, she also did not realize the game plan. So we watched and enjoyed. They swam around and drove the dog crazy. They realized the dog wasn't coming in after them and jeered her on. The day came that I had to give the eviction notice. If we clap our hands and make noise, they fly off. So we did that and went about the spring process of opening the pool. It was lovely. Sparkling, clear, lots of chlorine, flowers in pots, comfy chaise lounges and rafts floating ready to use for soaking up the sun. We were ready and couldn't wait. All we had to do was crank up the heater because Mother Nature hadn't warmed up enough.

The next morning when I let the dog out there were ELEVEN ducks in the pool, nine of which were baby ducklings. The nerve of them! They were all lined up, floating on my rafts. This was cute, but not cute. It was a serious problem. Mom and Dad duck had brought everyone over for their first swimming lesson. Trouble was they had not had their first flying lesson so none of them could take flight when the dog came out barking. Mom and Dad weren't going to take off either. How were we going to get them out of the pool when they can't climb or fly out? Common sense said to go back inside and let nature take its course, which we did. After a long while we went out and they were gone. I have no idea where they went but they couldn't fly and it would be a long waddle to the canal from our house. We discovered a nest at the neighbor's close to the bird feeder.

Now, every year there is always a couple who come in for a swim. I am not so admiring of their cuteness and I tell the dog to "go get 'em". Of course that translates to "go bark". They fly off but come back by next morning. As of this writing they haven't been back for a day. The mallard had been seen floating by himself for a while. I hope his mate is not on a nest. They're back at the feeder though and a cruise through the neighbor's yard has not disclosed a sitting duck. But since they fly they could be doing time shares among three neighboring pools. I'll let you know if there are any new babies. Hopefully they will turn up in somebody else's pool due to my dog on duty.

On another note, spring is also welcomed in with marathons and walkathons. The weekend of April 26-27, 2008, is a dog weekend. Saturday, April 26, 2008, is the benefit for ICAN (Indiana Canine Assistance Network). This is the organization that works with prisoners to train dogs for therapy and service to assist the disabled. They are having a really fun event. It reminds me of the treasure hunt for the Colt's Super Bowl ring because they too are having a scavenger hunt. Get a team of four together and register online. This is their third year. Three Dog Bakery is a sponsor and giving away the third place prize. Go to www.icandog.org . Sunday the 27th is the Mutt Strutt at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. This benefits the Humane Society of Indianapolis. Pre-register with an email before April 23rd, 2008, to muttstrut@indyhumane.org. I hear that it is really fun walking your dog around the 2.5 mile track with a photo taken on the finish line.

Now help me reunite a lost kitty. She is Siamese and found on 49th Street east of Central Avenue. Siamese rescue is taking her in and will put her up for adoption but would love to find her owners. She has no tags or ID chip. Shame, shame. All pets should have identification. A chip is an easy and inexpensive process not any more difficult than piercing an ear. DO IT! Pets make you smile.