A few days ago it officially — by the calendar — turned summer. Here I’ve been writing about winter and spring at Pipi’s Pasture for what seems to be a long time so now it’s summer’s turn. Here’s what I’ve noticed about early summer.

• Four baby skunks, probably born under a storage shed in the backyard, are old enough to follow their mama across Pipi’s Pasture. They resemble baby ducks as they waddle along after her.

• The spring kittens are old enough to wander back and forth from the corral to the house area, and this morning as I was pulling hay off a round bale, I spooked a mama cat who had hidden a brand new kitten there — her second litter already.

• A mama spider put her eggs in a web right over a flower pot of pansies, and now the eggs are hatching into tiny orange spiders that are crawling everywhere.

• The garden crops, planted late because of all of the rain, are coming up and actually thriving, right along with the weeds.

• It’s been so hot that the rhubarb leaves are curled up during the day, apparently in an attempt to conserve water.

• It’s been so hot that I’ve gone back to my summer habit of covering the steering wheel with a towel when I get out of the car.

• The sprinkler runs on lawn or garden each day.

• A doe deer enjoys treating herself to some of the flowers in one of the patio plants, even though I spray them with deer repellent, and I’ve planted it twice. She eats marigolds, too.

• The cows that are home this summer have to be powdered for flies.

• The grass on summer pasture is the most plentiful it has been in years so summer pasture is in good shape, but the water may play out.

• Because of all of the grass, everyone is talking about the fire danger.

• The air conditioner runs all afternoon and evening, and in the afternoons all of the animals here at Pipi’s Pasture hunt up shade.

• Early mornings, around 5:30 a.m. as I write this column, the air is alive with the songs and sounds of birds as they begin their day.

Summer is here.