Hints of Spring

Friday, March 15, 2019

The days are warming up into the high forties and I’m looking for spring’s early signs. Our streets are clear but landscapes remain buried under nearly two feet of snow, which daily melts a little and at night turns icy. Every property looks like the photo above where I spotted my favorite sign so far of spring returning.

The foreground brush housed a covey of quail. Upon seeing me, they flew straight up and away, down the middle of my photo and toward that space between two trees way in the background.

I hung out remaining very still and hoping they’d return, and so, was treated to the sight of more quail across the street. I turned and they hurried to escape, and still, no photos. Using my camera would have meant shooting straight into the sun, and changing my position would have frightened the birds more.

There’s no greenery aside from conifer limbs that are emerging from snow. I wandered home to look around for something that seemed like spring. This lovely Robin caught my eye.

The local birds regularly drink from my goats’ heated buckets. Admittedly, Robins are present year round, but they become more numerous in the summers. It’s also appealing to see that some snow in the goats’ area has melted.

Like “Desperately Seeking Susan”, I’m desperately seeking spring.

I let Max outside awhile and he followed me to the barn where he took up residence in his usual spot watching for mice. He’s a lousy mouser, not because he can’t catch them, for oh yes, he does. But because he tosses them around, gets tired and lets them loose, and those that still can, run to hide and resume their lives. Oh, Max!

I remembered having seen in a doctor’s office a lovely watercolor of a garden in France. I searched for the artist, finding neither her nor her painting, but became drawn to the idea of borrowing from the public domain a photo of wildflowers. These are abundant in our mountains during spring, and remind me of riding horseback and finding them massed in gorgeous welcomes.

And finally, for some reason, maybe because because I remember that French garden, here’s Peaches with one of his favorites. It’s associated to Europe and deeply green.

I’ll be working at Costco today and looking around there for signs of spring.

Dear Friends, Enjoy this day, let me know if you spot spring. Diana