“It was such a spring day as breathes into a man an ineffable yearning, a painful sweetness, a longing that makes him stand motionless looking at the leaves or grass, and fling out his arms to embrace he knows not what.”
John Galsworthy, English novelist and playwright (1867-1933)
Within five days, five possums were spotted in the yard. I wondered if maybe water rising in Tibbee and Catalpa Creeks forced wild animals to higher ground. A large rat was hiding in the gardenias beside the porch. Even Harry, the cat, was a little scared of the rat. Harry laid down and peered over the porch, examining the creature. Our bird population has grown. After purchasing more sunflower seeds, the cardinals are coming back. A woodpecker has been seen over and over. He makes a terrible sound as he scooches up the oak trees pecking at the bark. When the sun is shining his head is brilliant red atop his black and white striped back.
The ground is so wet, soft and mushy, I wear rubber boots every day to make my rounds. In places I step and seem to sink down at least three inches. Sam keeps saying, “The ground is rotten. Do you smell it?”
The daffodils have been out in abundance for awhile now and show little inclination to decline. The quince has held its own, as has the forsythia. The clematis vine is showing a little green A single white iris bloomed. The jessamine has a few yellow blooms and a dozen more buds. The wind blew a yellow bud into the goldfish pond as I was feeding. I sat back on the bench to watch. Sure enough, the goldfish sucked the bud into its mouth. I waited to see what he’d do next. He sucked in a few goldfish flakes and spit out the jessamine bud. It really wasn’t surprising since fish tend to suck in anything from purple sparkly rubber worms to shiny metal spinner baits with hooks on their bellies.
The oak tree is leafing out, forcing last year’s brown leaves to the ground. The grass is greening and the green onions have sprouted madly. Sam took the opportunity to mow one sunny day, cutting the onions and mulching the fallen leaves. I love the spring smell of cut onions. Sam, not so much. I’ve collected a few dandelions. The bunny rabbits love dandelions and also green clover.
Something, one of the trees, has loosed a plethora of tiny seeds. The robins and sparrows are skipping across the yard and porch roof collecting the seeds. It’s nice of nature to take care of a little nourishment rather than buying processed seed at the store.
A number of flowers have sprouted in small clumps across the lawn and field. Sam leaves them, like random bouquets, when he mows. Several of them are what I call snowbells. They have tiny white blooms on green foliage in solitary clumps. Last week I roamed the yard in the dark searching for Harry and found him hiding behind a clump of snowbells. It’s wasn’t a very good hiding place.
Daylight Saving Time has begun, St. Patrick’s Day is just ahead, and the first day of spring is not far off. As Yogi Berra says, “You can observe a lot by just watching.”
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