Wednesday, March 20, 2013

Nor'easter...the Aftermath

Yesterday's storm dumped 18 inches of wet, heavy snow in our yard. I'm cheered by the fact that the snow will melt soon, and the temperatures will warm. Today the birds are singing again, and a red squirrel is scrounging for sunflower seeds beneath the bird feeder. The chocolate cake is delicious. Life is good. Welcome Spring.

Tuesday, March 19, 2013

Nor'easter



Here in the Northeast it's been a day of snow snow snow.

Yesterday I heard the chickadees' mating song: a long two-note fee-beeee whistle. I watched a male mourning dove carry a small bundle of sticks in its beak to assist its mate with nest building. It was forty degrees, and the sun warmed my skin. The snow in our backyard had melted around the fringe of our 14-acre woodlot. The hens dug and scratched in the thawing soil rich with chickie delights. They stretched their legs and wings and savored the sunlit feast.

Today they refuse to leave their coop's warmth and the close proximity of grain and water. I imagine the chickadees and mourning doves are huddled on a branch in a sheltered copse of trees. They're not fools. Neither am I. This morning I pulled on long johns and wool socks and baked a chocolate cake to fill the kitchen with warm sweetness. I sipped lemon-ginger tea, watched the snow swirl around outside the windows, and remembered that Spring officially arrives tomorrow morning. Eventually this storm will blow out of town, the snow will melt, and the nest-building will begin again.