That Special Spring

This season of new bud and bloom is way too short for most of us.  Everything about it is fragile and lacey and delicate and ephemeral.  The spring flowers are mostly pastel and transparent.  They hang on to their petals for just a week or so before rain or wind causes them to fall.  If they are more resilient the big bumblers stomp and chomp their way inside causing petals to drop.

The netted male oak flowers called catkins hang drooping and dispensing tiny yellow pollen.  They eventually fall covering patios and porches in wilted flower casings.  From the tiniest of female flowers that catch that pollen that vastness of an oak tree can emerge to tower over us all and remain to watch our grandchildren's children play.

The sunsets are later and can be enjoyed at a more leisurely pace since the cold breeze is gone.  The evenings are stiller and I can hear the call (purr) of the screech owl down in the ravine during the bedtime hour.

The bird-song is abundant but graceful as they declare their territory and call to their mates and pick their nesting sights.  They move swiftly with sticks and leaves and grasses once the perfect home has been found.  My friend told me a story the other day about her bluebird project.  She had tried to get out early on her trails to check the boxes and replace those that had been damaged by storms and age but unusually cold and rainy weather had delayed her.  When she finally set out, she found one of the old boxes already had a bluebird nest.  The mother had flown off the eggs when she checked.  She carefully took down the box and rotted post and put up a new post with a new birdhouse.  She then carefully moved the old nest with eggs inside the new box.  She waited and watched.  In due time, the mother bluebird returned and settled on the nest!  The father returned to stand watch!  

Now you can have fun posting below the conversation you think they were having...

Enough About the Damn Coughing

I am still having cough spasms every 1.2 hours to every 2 hours throughout the day and night.  I have followed the most recent therapy (now Silent Acid Reflux) taking the meds and giving up acid foods, etc.  I am eating small meals, bought a wedge pillow (which is the MOST uncomfortable thing ever if you are a side sleeper.)  I push ahead doing projects outside, going to stores, and talking on the phone while being interrupted by my intense cough every single time.  Driving requires my careful attention to avoid any dangers while coughing my head off. OK...not going to write any more about it.  But NOTHING is working and I  am fighting depression because COVID is ending isolation for all, except me!

My laptop starting getting funny and shutting down intermittently.  I took it to the technician and they put in a totally new OS, neglecting to tell me that EVERYTHING on my computer that was personalized would have to be done over again.  Logins, finding old bookmarks (?) and adjusting how I have personalized browsers and laptop settings.   Thankfully, I found Blogger and was able to log in and continue here as if nothing had happened!  One of the reasons I took it in was to fix the in-computer camera which they said they did.  Hubby picked up the laptop for me but did not ask them to show him the camera was working.  My family has been waiting for a Zoom meeting and the camera is STILL not working.  I cannot get help.  The call goes into a long phone tree and then I wait for 24 hours and they say they will call back to work remotely and that did not happen yesterday while I waited 4 hours!

I have not been to the dentist for almost two years for a cleaning...the cough, of course.

I need to finally make an appointment for an eye exam, but I am putting that off because I have been on so many meds, I am afraid they might impact the results I get for a new prescription.

My SIL is visiting her son in the city and I am now wondering how we will get together.  She does not have a car and wants to meet up! 

The only good thing about all of this is that the meds have subdued my appetite and I am eating less.  Maybe I will lose weight?

Enough about the damn coughing.  Here is a vole that was left on my driveway by someone or something this past week  (probably the feral cat that roams about trying to win me over)...maybe they know something I do not?

Those Feather Friends

This has been a fun winter and spring in terms of birding.  Hubby and I are so in sync with our feathered neighbors that we find mornings pointing out this and that to each other.  While we failed to get the osprey to nest in their old home, we realized we should have cleaned it out from the grasses and just left a few sticks for them to rebuild.  That would have made the geese dismiss the site.  There is always next year.

The osprey did build a small mansion of a nest across the river at the top of a tall tree and while distant we can still watch them!  You can just see the small brown smudge below.

But I have a telephoto!

We have also had the migration birds come swiftly through before heading up north and I was able to catch a few photos of those!  (Red-breasted Mergansers).

They look like the Steven Tyler version of the musical world.

I failed to clean out the birdhouses last month and now am afraid to try to open any, but we do have bluebirds checking out the area and they are in their best colors right now.

Next post, the woodpeckers!