COMING OUT OF A TUNNEL

A little pink sunset at home this evening

Today six Canadian geese are spending their day hanging out around the open water on our pond.  Yes, geese are a common sight here, but I love watching them at home and their return in springtime is something I always look forward to.

Spring is in the air everywhere, literally, as I pause to sweep a spider off my shoulder while writing in my journal this afternoon.  I'd been putting off creating a new post for the last few weeks, mainly because I haven't felt worth a hoot since starting chemotherapy again in mid February.  With temperatures in the 60's and so much to observe in nature, it feels like time to get back at it.  Today, sitting outside by the pond feels great!

I'm watching the geese swim back and forth and wondering if two of them are our resident geese from years passed.  It's unusual in our little pond for more than two geese to share the space without a lot of squawking going on.  Maybe it's too early for nesting so they are just putting up with one another.

Last evening and this morning, the red winged blackbirds once again were singing loudly in the tree tops around the pond.  Yesterday we saw five robins and heard killdeer at Sherwood Lake and today we watched a sandhill crane in a nearby field.  What a treat it was to hear its prehistoric call, something that has been missing in my world for several months.

A red winged blackbird in the treetop, spreads it's wings each time it sings.

The return of the geese, cranes, robins and red winged blackbirds is about two weeks early this year and that makes me smile.  They couldn't have had better timing!  As I watch the geese dunk their heads under the water and splash around, I think they must be smiling too.  I wonder if the ice is cold on their feet as they keep taking turns standing on one foot and then the other.

The air today even has a balmy feeling attached to it.  This morning we were awakened by a crash of thunder and lightening that produced a huge white flash in the kitchen.  I remember an old saying... six months after the first thunderstorm of the year will be the first frost...  I'm not sure on that one, but it's possible.

Springtime can be muddy in Wisconsin, but it's also magical.  For me this year especially, spring is therapeutic, and I feel like I'm coming out of a long dark tunnel once again!

The spider on my shoulder

Enjoy Spring while it lasts... 
it won't be long and it'll be too hot!