A little birdie told me …

Winter gave way to spring and Lent is giving way to Easter.

Here on the mountain, a little birdie told us it’s time for another seasonal change, from Christmas to, well, now.

For each of the last three seasons, ruby throated hummingbirds have jetted, dog-fought (is this the past tense of dog-fight?) and hovered around our deck to enjoy homemade nectar. Wednesday night, one of the hummingbirds reappeared, having returned from his winter home nearer the equator. We spotted him checking each of the red bulbs on the strings of Christmas lights draped around the deck, probably thinking at each stop that the next one would be a refreshing floral Slurpee. It seemed a terrible (and unintentional) trick to play on the poor little guy. It was time to take the lights down and put the feeder up.

There is something even more ambitious on our seasons-change agenda, something in honor of Easter: taking down the Christmas tree. The Leland Cypress we bought the week after Thanksgiving has, amazingly, remained green and supple. We will hate to see it go, but it will serve as additional cover for our wild neighbors down the mountain slope.

So, what does all have to do with the spiders below? They are the new seasonal deck decor in the absence of Christmas lights.

HE'S GOT LEGS -- Daddy long legs clings to the underside of the railing.

GREEN and HAIRY -- The photo doesn't do it justice, but this spider with tiny tufts of hair was the same pale green of all-things-that-glow-in-the-dark with black accents.

SUSPENSION BRIDGE -- Spider hangs on a silken line from deck table to chair.