Bluebirds are back!

Midday we had a confirmed sighting of a bluebird (gender unknown), while walking one of the dogs. We've yet to close up the backyard bluebird house so that's on the list of things to do later today or first thing tomorrow.

bluebird's April arrival

Photo by J. Harrington

While chasing around the county on other errands, we noticed a red-tailed hawk or two, several lawns literally full of robins (migrating North?), three sandhill cranes flying to and from the local marshes, a few Canada geese resting in the local marshes, and the usual suspects at the feeders in front and behind the house. Perhaps Mother Nature has decided that, this year, mid-April is when North Country Spring will actually begin.

a flight of sandhill cranes

Photo by J. Harrington

Ice is fully out on the smaller ponds and lakes and shorelines are opening on the larger lakes that haven't yet reached ice-out. The Wild and Scenic River visitor center in St. Croix Falls is again open for the season. Most of the river around Taylors and St. Croix Falls is ice free except for the area immediately upstream of the Highway 8 bridge. Now, if only we could get some sunshine-filled days....

Bluebird

by Charles Bukowski

there's a bluebird in my heart that
wants to get out
but I'm too tough for him,
I say, stay in there, I'm not going
to let anybody see
you.

there's a bluebird in my heart that
wants to get out
but I pour whiskey on him and inhale
cigarette smoke
and the whores and the bartenders
and the grocery clerks
never know that
he's
in there.

there's a bluebird in my heart that
wants to get out
but I'm too tough for him,
I say,
stay down, do you want to mess
me up?
you want to screw up the
works?
you want to blow my book sales in
Europe?

there's a bluebird in my heart that
wants to get out
but I'm too clever, I only let him out
at night sometimes
when everybody's asleep.
I say, I know that you're there,
so don't be
sad.
then I put him back,
but he's singing a little
in there, I haven't quite let him
die
and we sleep together like
that
with our
secret pact
and it's nice enough to
make a man
weep, but I don't
weep, do
you?

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