Today's Symphony brought to me by DP&L . . .

What a gorgeous day in SW Ohio!  I wanted to be outside at 1:00 partly because it was such a beautiful day, but also because Doolittle's Raiders (from WWII) were being honored at Wright Patterson Air Force Base with a flyover of the B-25s.  Unfortunately, although most flights pass overhead, this one did not.

Fear not!  While I was not entertained by the B-25s, there was plenty going on in the connecting back yards to keep me entertained for a couple of hours.

I headed outside just after noon to enjoy the sunshine and pleasant temps.  Set up the camp chair and had my book and drink handy, as well as my camera.  I read for a little bit before I checked out the clouds, and sure enough, it was another beautiful sky day with pretty clouds (not necessarily interesting shapes).

Nope, no B-25s in the pics (I did double check!).

I took a little tour of the back yard, and found more of the lily of the valley in bloom.  I was beginning to think that the last freeze had killed them off, but they must be hardier than they look.

Of course, I had to check my re-blooming lilac, and it is still beautiful and still blooming!  I may be adding more of these to the back yard . . . I definitely need to add more lilacs (I think I would feel that way even if that was the only bloom in the yard!).

The peonies are well under way; love them, but hate the ants!

And the mock orange is also getting ready to bloom!

I don't know what this plant is . . . can anybody help me out with it?  Mom's memory of plants and what had been planted where is kind of iffy these days.

All of the shots of birds I got were very similar to ones I've already posted (and of the same kind of birds), so we'll just skip them.  Did get to watch a squirrel come bounding through the yard for a little while though.

And if that wasn't enough to entertain me, Dayton Power & Light had crews in the neighborhood trimming trees around the power lines.  After the windstorm caused by Hurricane Ike blew threw the area almost 4 years ago, leaving many people without power for up to two weeks, the utility companies took a lot of grief for having let the tree trimming go for too many years.  There are some pretty big trees in our area (around 50 years old) that haven't been cut back a whole lot.  There were crews working at 3 different houses close to me.  I took just a few pics of the guys high up in the trees; it really was kind of fun to watch.

So much excitement and entertainment in two short hours.  I think I'll need to spend more time hanging out in the back yard.  I had planned on some nice relaxing quiet time; although it was relaxing, it certainly wasn't quiet!  With chainsaws going in at least 3 yards and my amazing neighbor, Mr. B, mowing his lawn, I was treated to a mechanical motor symphony.    Bravo gentlemen, bravo!