The weather took us for a wild ride last week. One day it was warm, the next it was cold, now it’s warming up again. One day it was sunny, the next it was rainy, and then it was snowy, then it was rainy again. It flipped and squirmed back and forth. I hope this means that Mother Nature is trying to exert some pressure on Old Man Winter to go away.
On Tuesday, the warm and sunny day, we pruned the orchard. It was nice to do that in shirt sleeves at 68° instead of standing knee deep in snow and shivering like I normally do when I prune. It was even nicer this time because I had help from Miriam, Asa, and Enoch. We finished in one afternoon. That was good, because that was our one and only good day for the week.
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| Asa and Enoch pruning. |
Wednesday was rainy, but not too cold. That night the temperature fell and Thursday morning we woke up to freezing rain that turned into snow. I got a call early that morning to say that school was on a two hour delay and then another call later to say it was canceled. Unfortunately, Stacey has people that depend on her to show up at work, so she had to go out in the storm. The roads were an icy mess. She left late. I offered to drive her but she said no. She took an overnight bag with her in case she couldn’t get home that night. She set out and we prayed she’d get there safely. She called an hour later to say she made it without any problems. She hates to drive in bad weather. By the afternoon the weather had settled down and the roads were clear and she made it home without any difficulty.
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| Thursday. |
On Thursday, even as a nasty winter storm was coming through, there were signs that winter is in retreat, albeit slowly. As I went down to do the chores it was snowing hard, but I saw my first robins in the wild rose thicket by the barn. They were eating rose hips. They “yelled” at me for disturbing them as I went into the barn. That same day a flock of red-winged blackbirds came to my feeders. This morning I heard them singing. That’s always a happy event.
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| Red-winged blackbirds at the feeders. |
Early in the week when I went down to do the chores, I noticed that the water level in the beaver pond across the road had dropped drastically. When I went to investigate, I found there was a breach in the dam about six feet wide. I haven’t actually seen beavers in the pond since November, but they are mostly nocturnal and tend to be shy, so I wasn't concerned until now. I felt so sad watching the water flow away. On Thursday when I went down to do the chores, I took another look at the pond. It looked like the breach was almost fixed and the water level was rising again! The beavers apparently, were still there. I was so happy! Then on Saturday, again at chore time, I went down and found the breach was back and wider and deeper. The water in the pond was almost gone. The snow and rain we had during the week has made the creeks rise and the dam couldn’t take it. I hope when the creek dies down the beavers, if they really are still there, will repair the dam and the pond will fill up again. Before the beavers arrived that was a marshy field with the little Genesee stream running through it. The pond has made it the center of much bird and amphibian life. It is a source of joy for us as we observe the different ducks, mergansers, geese, herons, and songbirds that live and visit there. We love the spring peeper and summer bullfrog chorus that comes from the pond during the warmer seasons of the year. I will be very sad if the pond goes away.
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| The small breach in the dam on Monday. |
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| Thursday the breach is closed. |
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| The big breach on Saturday. |
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| The pond draining out. |
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| The pond almost empty. |
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| The pond as it looked last September. |
It feels like spring today. It is warm – well it’s 50° – that’s warm for February here. Today at church we sang “There Is Sunshine In My Soul Today.” I select the hymns every week and that is not one of my favorite hymns, but I like the verse that says “there is springtime in my soul today.” We’re home from church and almost ready to eat lunch. After lunch we’re going to take a little drive to visit some of our local ponds. There have been reports of a variety of species of waterfowl in the area – canvasbacks, gadwalls, scaups, shovelers, black ducks, and buffleheads. I guess the spring migration is underway. I’m taking my field guide and camera with a telephoto lens and a tripod. Miriam is taking her nice binoculars. Out in the yard it looks a bit like spring too. We had rain last night and the snow is gone – again. In the front flowerbed more snowdrops have come up. Out in the big flowerbed the tips of daffodils, crocuses, and tulips are poking through the soil. We’re at the end of February at last. There is springtime in my soul today.
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| Snowdrops. |
