Today we spent some happy hours learning about our new Subaru Outback.  We studied the manual at home, and then drove around town together, helping each other learn the various techniques.  It was fun to work together on this, and before long I'm sure we'll both be smooth and confident operators of this graceful machine before long. 

It was a mild early spring day -- temps near 50 with only a bit of moisture. We took a good and tiring (for me) walk up and down the hill at The Peace Sanctuary -- four times up and down surrounded by a forest that's just starting to be reborn for the new season. Later, even with the warming weather, we sat before a fire in the living room, reading and chatting as the sunlight started to dim ever so slowly,