Robin, December 23, 2007It's 8:30 AM, 28 degrees F outside and sunny. There is a light film of ice along the edge of the river ... the first of the season. Over the next few days, the temperature is supposed to start rising until it gets up to 60 degrees F ... probably by Monday.
When I stepped outside just a few minutes ago, the air was filled with birdsong ... the way it sounds in late March or early April and you know with all of your senses that spring is here. For the last week or so I've been observing a mixed flock of robins and starlings who apparently think that spring has arrived in central Virginia. Usually the first Robins will appear here in mid February along with the green leaves of daffodils poking through the earth's crust for a peek at the sun. Granted, we've had a very warm fall and I've not had to wear a winter coat until yesterday, when the temperatures dove down into the 30's during the day. But next week it will be shorts weather! Is this the way things are supposed to be?? In early January??
Yesterday when I was out walking the dogs, I did see that a few brave daffodils had started to appear in my neighbor's yard. This morning, the flock of birds is on the move flitting here and there, like little children waiting for the school bus on a very cold day ... hopping up and down on one leg and then the other, trying to keep warm. I'm sure these chilly birds are looking for their preferred meal of juicy earthworms that I don't think will appear until the ground has thawed a bit in the morning sun. Seeds will just have to do for now. They certainly don't look like they are going to give up and go south again.
If you ask most of us, we'd most likely say that this is not the way things are supposed to be. Robins are supposed to arrive in the spring, not at the beginning of winter. When I was a kid, long before this country became involved in the space race, I remember hearing rumors that the Russians were causing the crazy weather patterns because of their space explorations. Well now we know more about what really causes the changes in the weather, about global warming and other scientific matters that alot of us find hard to wrap our minds around.
I've been told that the only certain things in life are death and taxes. Everything else is in flux. One day I'm feeling happy ... the next day sad. I add a pound here and there as I graze through the pantry or I lose a few because I'm really working at it. Friends come and go. Each morning we wake up to see the sun rise and set at different times. How boring it would be if things really were the way they are supposed to be!!
When I stepped outside just a few minutes ago, the air was filled with birdsong ... the way it sounds in late March or early April and you know with all of your senses that spring is here. For the last week or so I've been observing a mixed flock of robins and starlings who apparently think that spring has arrived in central Virginia. Usually the first Robins will appear here in mid February along with the green leaves of daffodils poking through the earth's crust for a peek at the sun. Granted, we've had a very warm fall and I've not had to wear a winter coat until yesterday, when the temperatures dove down into the 30's during the day. But next week it will be shorts weather! Is this the way things are supposed to be?? In early January??
Yesterday when I was out walking the dogs, I did see that a few brave daffodils had started to appear in my neighbor's yard. This morning, the flock of birds is on the move flitting here and there, like little children waiting for the school bus on a very cold day ... hopping up and down on one leg and then the other, trying to keep warm. I'm sure these chilly birds are looking for their preferred meal of juicy earthworms that I don't think will appear until the ground has thawed a bit in the morning sun. Seeds will just have to do for now. They certainly don't look like they are going to give up and go south again.
If you ask most of us, we'd most likely say that this is not the way things are supposed to be. Robins are supposed to arrive in the spring, not at the beginning of winter. When I was a kid, long before this country became involved in the space race, I remember hearing rumors that the Russians were causing the crazy weather patterns because of their space explorations. Well now we know more about what really causes the changes in the weather, about global warming and other scientific matters that alot of us find hard to wrap our minds around.
I've been told that the only certain things in life are death and taxes. Everything else is in flux. One day I'm feeling happy ... the next day sad. I add a pound here and there as I graze through the pantry or I lose a few because I'm really working at it. Friends come and go. Each morning we wake up to see the sun rise and set at different times. How boring it would be if things really were the way they are supposed to be!!
7 comments:
so very true.
Love the photo.
Though i wish my weight would staying boringly the same ;)
Happy New Year!
Well said. The more things change, the more they stay the same :)
We had a surprising cold snap our last couple of days in Florida. First time I've worn gloves there!
Thanks for being my first visitor at Bookstack. Just what I need -another blog toy for me to play with ;)
American robins are so pretty, do you have them on your Christmas cards?
Sometimes aberrant migrations are to do with the conditions where they've come from. Bird populations ahve always changed and shifted, but probably not so much as now.
Lucy,
Robins are now seen in the Arctic from time to time ... global warming for sure. I've never seen a robin on Christmas cards.
Amen, my friend. The only thing constant is change. xo
Amen, my friend. The only thing constant is change. xo
Post a Comment