I Have the Fever

Today, White-throated Sparrows whistle forlorn notes and Juncos flock on the front lawn. (This post was written over a week ago and since then I haven’t seen a Junco.)

There is early Spring although today I’m wearing a coat. It’s 40 degrees, after 85 earlier in the week.

The furnace is running. What???

Come… on… Spring… dammit.

A weak winter remains

still

on certain cold evenings. Our coats and jackets are draped over the back of kitchen chairs, ready.

Seems odd to fill the hummingbirds’ nectar feeders

but they’re in the area.

I’m prepared for their early arrival.

Unlike last year when they were late coming home.

We see more green in the landscape than brown now

and sprouting quickly in the lodge. How I’d love to introduce myself!

There are bees, flys, spring peepers, moths, stink bugs, wasps, hornets, and lizards.

No ants yet, thank you.

There’s love in the air again

that you can hear and feel all around,

if you care to notice.

Foot-longs are frisky and

look who emerged from the soup

for some drying out in soft, warm breezes.

A little sweat I wiped from my brow

and brushed back my overgrown bangs to see

lily pad who had risen to the top, waiting for dragons and damsels.

Oooo, I can’t wait!

Spring Already?

Spring is soaking up all the rain clouds have to offer. Rainy days are rare in these parts, since 2005.

Time for nest cleaning. Anchored under the porch roof, I wonder which nest belongs to what bird? It's a duo nest, I suppose. One belongs to a Carolina Wren?

Almost two months have passed since I tended to Mary’s View. Clearly, I remember agonizing over ice and cabin fever like it was yesterday and already, we’re living a new season. Where does the time go?

Chloe will celebrate her 15^th birthday in three months and the girl still has an attitude. She's telling me something in this photo.

Life is so busy right now that I forget the Licker Sisters need their photo opportunities. My normal fifteen-to-twenty-photo-posts are reduced to eleven today. Being a slacker, I’m scraping the bottom of the barrel! Although I long to be back to my normal 100+ photo shooting days, it won’t happen until after The Wedding.

The Wedding is all-consuming, being on my mind throughout the day and in the wee hours of the morning when I should be sleeping. Instead, I lay awake wondering if we have the cake ribbon... Life is full of places to go, people to see, things to get, and services to employ. All of this, out of love. We write the check and don’t look back! We accept the stress and try to convince ourselves that everything will be alright.

After months of feeling the stress and pressure of finding a suitable “Mother of the Bride” dress, I recently ventured out with Gina on my first search. With fear and dread, I entered the formal dress department and from a distance, in the midst of drab, stuffy gowns, I saw a flash of color I liked, walked directly to the dress, touched it, held it, wore it, and then bought it. Finding that dress in five minutes was a high soprano “Ahhhhhhhhhhhh!” moment and a natural high that lasted all day. No boring, full-length gowns in shades of ugly with those stuffy little Bolero jackets for me! The only acceptable dress is one that moves with me on the dance floor.

Still looking through the bathroom window for Bluebirds and Brown Thrashers on the pond

and Chickadees singing an uproar.

Still, I can’t resist running for my camera when Coop appears in the back yard and I apologize, as this might be the 25^th photo of a Coop I'm showing here in the last twelve months. Sorry for the Chickadees, too.

I can’t resist chasing that tease at the grocery store pond. It’s been four years of chasing her, in my car, from one side of the big pond

to the other. It’s been a while since I nailed a good pic of a Belted Kingfisher. In the quiet of my parked car I say, "I'll get you, my pretty..."

This is where I missed a grand shot of a Red-headed Woodpecker. The loss was so painful I felt I might die.

If I allow the time, I can always rely on my spark bird to make a showing. Nice.