Weather to enjoy seasonal thankfulness

It's snowing today, a nuisance snow with the air full of many tiny, tiny flakes. It's not the big, soft flakes that bring quiet to the world. I'm thankful I live somewhere that has at least four seasons a year. Some seasons have historically been shorter and more abrupt than ideal, but even Minnesota's frequently mismanaged Spring brings beautiful wildflowers. I'm thankful for their ephemeral beauty.

even nuisance snows can bring beauty

Photo by J. Harrington

Summer often brings opportunities to watch young of the year learn their way around and, sometimes, exhibit great amounts of outright exuberance, like the fawn we watched race around the yard for the shear enjoyment of running fast. I'm thankful for such displays of the joy of being alive.

whitetail deer fawns bring Summer's high points

Photo by J. Harrington

Autumn, until and unless it gets disrupted by climate breakdown, has long been a favorite season. The colorful leaves, migrating waterfowl and song birds, harvest celebrations and falling temperatures all bring reasons to be thankful. Even the arrival of snow on the ground offers opportunities to look for and, maybe, follow animal tracts. Snowy hillsides also provide striking backgrounds against which to view whitetail deer, like the large doe I saw earlier today.

black cherry trees brighten Autumn

Photo by J. Harrington

Even Winter brings the holidays, friends and family visits and then quiet times to wind down, put our feet up, and appreciate all we have to be thankful for. In Winter, I try to remember to be thankful for every opportunity I have to hibernate, even for brief periods. It seems to me that bears prove they're wiser than humans by doing a much better job of extended hibernation. Neither do they drive automobiles.

holiday meals gather family and friends

Photo by J. Harrington

How to Foretell a Change in the Weather

by Ted Kooser

Rain always follows the cattle
sniffing the air and huddling
in fields with their heads to the lee.
You will know that the weather is changing
when your sheep leave the pasture
too slowly, and your dogs lie about
and look tired; when the cat
turns her back to the fire,
washing her face, and the pigs
wallow in litter; cocks will be crowing
at unusual hours, flapping their wings;
hens will chant; when your ducks
and your geese are too noisy,
and the pigeons are washing themselves;
when the peacocks squall loudly
from the tops of the trees,
when the guinea fowl grates;
when sparrows chip loudly
and fuss in the roadway, and when swallows
fly low, skimming the earth;
when the carrion crow
croaks to himself, and wild fowl
dip and wash, and when moles
throw up hills with great fervor;
when toads creep out in numbers;
when frogs croak; when bats
enter the houses; when birds
begin to seek shelter,
and the robin approaches your house;
when the swan flies at the wind,
and your bees leave the hive;
when ants carry their eggs to and fro,
and flies bite, and the earthworm
is seen on the surface of things.

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