The Coming of Spring

It's not spring yet according to the calendar, but we in the Southern Tier of New York got a sneak preview on Sunday, when it got into the upper 60's. Then, last night, strong storms blew through. This morning, I woke up to a dusting of snow.

But I have my memories of Sunday.

Birdsong filled the air.  A tufted titmouse called over and over. A bright red Northern Cardinal fed from our feeder while a black capped chickadee took a seed and hit it on a nearby branch (normal eating behavior).  We heard American robins, house sparrows, and house finches.

We took a walk in a Binghamton, New York park, heard red winged blackbirds trill, and saw a bald eagle sitting in a tree across the river. Canada geese honked, and walked on a still frozen pond.  A male and female mallard duck swam in the river.  We heard what our Merlin app's Sound ID (which can identify birdsong) identified as red bellied woodpeckers and possibly a cedar waxwing.

The snow is melting.  Almost all of our yard was bare, brown but with signs of new life.

Nature is stretching and coming awake.

No crocuses are coming up yet.  But under the blanket of leaves that fell in the fall, some daffodils are starting to emerge on the side of our house.  These daffodils came with the house, some 35 years ago. Maybe I can call them heirlooms.  We've thinned them out from time to time. They bloom early.

Hopefully, our thyme plant made it.  Some other parts of the yard are too muddy for me to want to walk there yet to check on other plants, such as our crocuses.

Best of all, I have a white Lenten Rose that had buds on it back when the snow started to fall in January.  The plant is mashed flat but, below the dead fall leaves are - yes, more buds.  It's hard to see here but they are there.

Spring in our climate has always been a time of renewal, of hope.

Our winter respite was short.  Winter is back now.  But we know now that spring is on its way.