Walking Along the Columbia

Lisa and I saw everywhere the signs of stirring:
cherry and plum trees heavy with pink blossoms;
a nesting swan and her mate, looming white in the marshes;
bright green blades of grass emerging from the haggard straw;
a heron perched regally on a stone in the shallows;
dog tracks across the sun-warmed mud;
scaups and cormorants diving for fish in the lee of the jetty;
and a black cat eating a baby squirrel.