I
must begin with a confession. I didn't do a whole lot of "work" today
around the Acres. Nothing to next-to-nothing would be a slight
exaggeration. Spent most of the morning and early afternoon reading
while watching the sky go from the sun playing hide-and-seek behind the
clouds, to a gathering gray, to a lovely snowfall. There isn't a whole
lot of snow, but it's wet and sticks beautifully to all it touches. Lovely.
I did take a couple of walks today, of course. It's the time of year
where you see last summer's hidden things. The summer grass in the
meadow's margins effectively hid a small cedar I brought up from Mom's
place in South Carolina a few years ago. I didn't have much hope for it
up here in Yankee land; its being Southern born and bred, but its parent
in Mom's backyard was gorgeous and full of fruit that the cedar waxwing
coveted. It had done little in the way of growing, and I imagined that
the vortex would be its ruin. Alas, not so. Hidden away last summer in
the tall grass, it exploded. It has to have at least tripled in size in
the last year. Now, it's still small--three to four feet, but it's
alive, well, and even appears to be thriving! Yes! If I live another
decade and can keep the Acres, I will have my own Cedar Waxwing Diner.
Bring your own camera.
It's also the time of year for seeing the
myriad of nests that I passed by numerous times last year without the
slightest idea that a family of my feathered friends was growing up in
touching distance of the old man. There are some nests higher up in the
trees which I can excuse myself for not noticing on my many walks, but
the ones in the bushes just a reach away, surely I should have noticed
them--O great observer that I claim to be. Not so. My friends are
masters at building hidden bungalows.
And my feathered friends were
the highlight of my afternoon walk in the falling snow. A flock of
robins--red and black against a snow-white background--is glorious to
behold. And they have a singing heart even in the snowfall. Loud and
boisterous as always. What's a little spring snow when you know for sure
that spring has come to stay. Is there any creature more boisterously
optimistic than a robin in March? And today it was a flock of them! A
symphony. Love those robes they wear!
Tomorrow is supposed to be
chilly again, I believe. Maybe I can be tempted to take a pilgrimage to
Baker's Acres and see what they have to offer this time of year. A
temptation to be tempted I'm sure. I always go there in mid-May. What a
collection of flowers they offer! But I've never been there in early
spring. It is a trip. Ahhh. I'll see what another cold day entices me to
do with my rest. I enjoy working at resting--in case you didn't notice.
Bring on Day Five!
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