Tuesday morning as I was eating breakfast on the porch, I had the privilege watching two white crowned sparrows in my lawn. They were beautiful plump taiga (boreal forest) white crowned sparrows. One was hanging out on the brush pile where I stack the kindling brush for next fall. The other was nearby busily eating dandelion seeds from newly closed flowers. It is a treat to see them come through on their migration north.
These crocus more than two weeks early this year
The weatherman says things are warming up early.
http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/03/15/10704138-warming-up-mighty-early-across-parts-of-us
We really didn’t need him to tell us. I’ve had sonowdrops and crocus blooming already for several days. I have daffodils heavily budded and one hyacinth near the house showing purple too. Al Sgroi says he has already planted peas.
Yesterday, or the day before, my friend George Raterman called me with the news that he had a red-winged blackbird in his bird feeders. This morning my feeder was overrun by a mixed flock of starlings and red-wing blackbirds. It’s a definite early sign of spring for us nature lovers and bird watchers. Even in a mild winter like this one, we are glad to see it, even if the bird seed does disappear quickly.
It seems like the weeks since Easter have been unusually busy for me. How about you? I’m wondering how much of this is related to the late date of Easter? Easter was about as late as it can possibly get this year. For one thing, Mothers Day and college graduation season fell only two weeks after Easter, a potentially stressful conjunction of big events. At Community Wesleyan, global partners (missions) emphasis which usually fits comfortably between Easter and Mother’s Day, now was shoehorned into an already busy May as well.
My parents and grandparents, passing down the wisdom of generations of farm families, had a saying that if Easter was late, spring would also be late. That certainly has been truly here in Syracuse this year. As a gardner, this has also added to the busyness of late April and early May. Tilling that was done in mid-April in past years could not be done until the first May. Lettuce, radishes, spinach, and peas have often been planted in April but this year are being planted in May. At least we didn’t start mowing the lawn until the first week in May.
As I reflect on it, a late Easter was nice for having crocuses and tulips out to adorn the season. I also enjoyed the longer winter sermon series it allowed. But I’m not sure I like the time crunch that has followed. I still think the ideal time for Easter celebration is the second Sunday in April. But since it’s not up to you and me anyway, I guess we’ll just have to take it as it comes and remember that God’s grace is sufficient for everyday! Sometimes I need to be reminded of my favorite verse, “And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work” (2 Co 9:8 NIV).
What says spring like counting the returning birds? Last weekend, I went for my neighborhood walk (about 1 mile each way) and counted robins. I was rejoicing to report a total of ten. The most I had seen before was one here or there. But today, things had definitely changed for the better. I counted 38 on the same walk! Yes! Gardening must be just around the corner!
Grackle on my bird feeder this noontime in spite of the piles of snow!
Big news here. I saw the first robin in the treetops of my backyard yesterday! I think he was lost.
