Spring, it appears, has decided to stay. The forecast shows no periods of snow nor even morning temperatures lower than the mid 20’s. Ice is virtually gone from the pond and lakes are beginning to open. Even the frost is mostly out of the soil. Spring has truly returned to this land where winter usually lingers well into April and even May. It seems a bit early, I worry, for the natural rhythm of things is changing. But my friends of forest and marsh reassure me all is well.
Daffodils are beginning to break ground and those over the septic tanks are showing blossom heads. Geese and ducks are exploring nesting sites on pond’s shore and discussing the best sites in full voice. Muskrat was seen checking his domain, and now he even has a companion. Great horned owls break the night’s silence, along with occasional coyotes. My nightly familiar for much of the winter, the little neighborhood screech owl, has gone silent, perhaps in deference to the great horned owls. I miss him on my late-night walks. During the darkest months of this especially dark Covid winter, he assured me nightly in gentle, questioning voice, that I am not alone.
This has been a difficult year with social distancing. Electronic communication is a passable second choice to real human contact, but still a second choice. Somehow, we have made it through twelve months of this, and the end may be in sight. Now, I anxiously await the spring peepers to assure me that life’s renewal is truly at hand.