Spring Back

If the change of the season is progress, 

Sunday's cold could be viewed as only a minor setback...

...but when the snow was falling fast and thick, 

it looked like full-blown winter.

Even the creatures seemed to think so, 

flying through the flakes and posing for Christmas cards.

After a year underground, this iris emerged to a balmy day Saturday,

but Sunday must have been a surprise.

Who would have guessed that Spring was only days away?

The creek is still flowing, but by yesterday, most of the snow was gone.

Spring peepers are singing as if nothing had happened,

and it feels like Spring is coming after all.




When will spring put on its splendor?
When will yellow blossoms nod?
Atop their stalks, so green and slender
Their frilly faces bow to God.

The winter’s drab; the birds are still.
When will spring put on its splendor
To raise the silent whip-poor-will
And paint the tulips, bright and tender?

When will winter days surrender
To brighter, longer days of spring?
When will spring put on its splendor
And cause the sweet-voiced wrens to sing?

Of the calendar’s four seasons
Vibrant spring has no contender 
For the wait, it has its reasons
When will spring put on its splendor?

Linking with Saturday's Critters

As Sure as Spring

There's music in the woods at night; the coyotes are singing their spring love songs. If you get close enough, it can raise the hair on the back of your neck, and around here, it's a good harbinger of spring. Last week, the ground was in a deep freeze, and with the exception of a few snowdrop blossoms and the music of the coyotes, it seemed there wasn't a single sign of spring's approach in these Ozark hills.

Until Friday. We spotted a Phoebe, returned from its winter in the south,
wagging its tail and singing its name.

A spring peeper (aka, tree frog) let out a timid peep from the pond. 

Yesterday, for the first time this season, 

we watched wild turkey gobblers displaying for the hens.

One old gobbler wanted to be sure the young ones, with their short, stubby beards, 

knew who was boss.

Even when it seems like a long wait, it's good to know there are some things you can always count on-- that as long as the earth endures, spring will come again, that somewhere the coyotes will sing, that the sun will come up in the morning, and that God's mercy will be available for a new day.

Let us acknowledge the Lord; let us press on to acknowledge him.  

As surely as the sun rises, he will appear; 

he will come to us like the winter rains, like the spring rain that waters the earth.

Hosea 6:3

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;

his mercies never come to an end;

they are new every morning;

great is your faithfulness.

The Lord is good to those who wait for him,

to the soul who seeks him.

Lamentations 3:22, 23, 25



Linking with Wild Bird Wednesday

Food and Shelter

After some promising signs of spring, winter is back in full force. Sleet, like tiny frozen styrofoam balls, fell all day Sunday and piled up, covering the ground. By yesterday morning, it was a solid mass of ice, laying under the cushion of snow that fell overnight. In the wee hours of the morning, Don fired up the wood furnace, and by the time I got up, it was already cozy inside. Church was cancelled on account of the weather, and so we busied ourselves at home.

Outdoors, the birds were active, searching for food to keep themselves warm. Cedar waxwings have been here for a few days. They fly in sync with the pinpoint precision of the Blue Angels, swirling in the sky, as if some inner radar tells all of them the precise spot in the air at which they must pivot. Yesterday they gathered on a tree limb, facing the wind, displaying their red wing tips and the yellow on the end of their tails. As their name indicates, they appear to have dipped their feathers in bright hot wax before they started their day. In a moment, like falling leaves, they cascaded down to the birdbath and drank their fill. As the daylight disappears, they retreat to their quarters, often in the cedars, where they wait for the light of a new day, entrusting themselves to the One who shelters them.

You are worthy, our Lord and God,

to receive glory and honor and power,

for you created all things, 

and by your will they were created

and have their being.

Revelation 4:11

He cares for those who trust in Him.

Naham 1:7

Linking with Wild Bird Wednesday

Irresistible

In the chill of late February, on our patch of Ozark land, 

the only things that appear to be blooming are a few delicate snowdrops.

Saturday's sunshine pried open the petals.

Was it the fragrance, wafting on the breeze, that woke the slumbering honeybees?

Hovering honeybees

find a snowdrop's siren song

irresistible.

How many are your works, O Lord!

In wisdom you made them all; the earth is full of your creatures.

All creatures look to you to give them their food at the proper time.

When you give it to them, they gather it up;

when you open you hand,

they are satisfied with good things.

Psalm 104:24, 27, 28




Linking with Weekly Top Shot
and Our World Tuesday