Name that bloom!

“I can name that bloom in one petal.” Today meets almost anyone’s idea of a beautiful spring day. Dandelions are in flower all over yards and along roadsides. Winter-hardy magnolias are in bloom as are native wild plum bushes and several others. Even a curmudgeon like Yr obt svt finds it difficult to complain about most of Mother Nature’s activities today, the exception being much of the behavior of her apes that walk on two feet.

roadsides are a-flower

Photo by J. Harrington

Despite all the delightful happenings today, I still managed to find one source of frustration and another of concern. When walking the dogs, I noticed the breeze was primarily from the south. That indicated it would be timely to use the electric leaf blower to clear the driveway toward the west. Just as I got about halfway down the drive, several gentle gusts came at us from close to due east, blowing many of the leaves back toward the house. Around here leaf blowing requires about as much patience as hunting deer from a stand. In frustration, I put away the leaf blower until another day.

My concern is based on seeing a ruby-throated hummingbird approach the sugar water feeder and then veer away from the downy woodpecker already there. The aversion is understandable, given the difference in sizes. I’m hoping the different species can do some time-shares because I don’t want to loose the hummers nor do I know how to convince the woodpecker to stay away. [Solved. As this was being typed, the hummer returned for a quick fill up while the downy was away.]

The next week or two could be among the nicest of the season. Do your best to get out and enjoy the ephemeral pleasures of springtime. Summer will seem interminable soon enough.

Birds Again

Jim Harrison - 1937-2016

A secret came a week ago though I already
knew it just beyond the bruised lips of consciousness.
The very alive souls of thirty-five hundred dead birds
are harbored in my body. It’s not uncomfortable.
I’m only temporary habitat for these not-quite-
weightless creatures. I offered a wordless invitation
and now they’re roosting within me, recalling
how I had watched them at night
in fall and spring passing across earth moons,
little clouds of black confetti, chattering and singing
on their way north or south. Now in my dreams
I see from the air the rumpled green and beige,
the watery face of earth as if they’re carrying
me rather than me carrying them. Next winter
I’ll release them near the estuary west of Alvarado
and south of Veracruz. I can see them perching
on undiscovered Olmec heads. We’ll say goodbye
and I’ll return my dreams to earth.

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Please be kind to each other while you can.