The Old BathtubHere is the old bathtub we rescued from our neighbor's field a few years ago. Usually it has colorful flowers growing there to attract the butterflies I watch from where I often sit at the computer. Right now, it is full of tender lettuces of the kind you can never find in a store or market. I cover it with chicken wire so the cows ambling by do not decimate it with their careless slobber, so eager are they right now for anything to eat.
This has been a wild winter with cold we haven't ever seen in the twenty years we have been here. The spring suddenly went hot and windy most days and so dry you can see the dust devils in the lane. We replanted several citrus trees that didn't make it through the freezes so we are having to water them daily so they'll have a good start. The new fish pond is already settled in with surrounding spingerei, pentas, lobelia, and the natives among the rocks. Quincy and I put in five tiny goldfish who seem happy to be there with the numerous mosquito fish and the water lilies. I like to sit on the bench nearby and meditate on this magical microcosm.
Despite the strange weather the migrating birds are coming back on schedule. We don't see so many cardinals and titmouses (titmice?) at the feeders. I think they are busy incubating their eggs. Bluebirds can usually be seen perching on the fence out front. The hummingbirds demand that their feeders be full by dive bombing us on the porch.
The most exciting thing, birdwise, is Bob and Emily's nest! These are our resident sandhill cranes who have been here for several years. But we have never been able to find their nest until this year. Last week I saw them tossing grass and small sticks around in a spot on the ground next to the big pond. Finally this afternoon we saw one of them sitting on the nest. Later, I went out to watch them and saw the two birds change places. Emily, slightly smaller, was on the nest. Soon Bob strolled into view (where was he all day?). Very slowly, very stately, he delicately approached the nest. When he got right up to it, Emily arose, stretched out her neck to Bob. For several moments Emily pecked at the ground, and then, very slowly, Bob sank down, the faithful spouse on duty.
I worry about these birds and their upcoming parenthood. There are large cows tromping around, and the pond is full of alligators. And coyotes, ye gads. We are going away for five days. I wonder how the time will go for these elegant birds? They'll sit on those eggs in ninety degree sun, or in the rain and thunderstorms that have been promised. And each morning they'll greet the day with their wild vocalizations.
The barn tonight is full of fireflies. And wrens nesting everywhere.
We had a salad tonight of red lettuce, snow peas and our first asparagus - a perfect accompaniment to Andy's thin crust pizza topped with the last broccoli florets from the garden. When we return the broccoli will be all gone to flowers which will make the butterflies happy.
I am so eagerly anticipating our few days in New York City! We have opera and play tickets, museums and galleries to explore, music to hear and friends to see. I love the energy and color and motion of New York, the buildings and noise and possibilities. But I know that at some point I will be ready to leave all that teeming life, that brushing against so many people, the blaring sounds, the restaurants, the hermetically sealed hotel. I will be glad to get back to this paradise of space and the subtlety of spring changing into summer.
Happy Easter!
This has been a wild winter with cold we haven't ever seen in the twenty years we have been here. The spring suddenly went hot and windy most days and so dry you can see the dust devils in the lane. We replanted several citrus trees that didn't make it through the freezes so we are having to water them daily so they'll have a good start. The new fish pond is already settled in with surrounding spingerei, pentas, lobelia, and the natives among the rocks. Quincy and I put in five tiny goldfish who seem happy to be there with the numerous mosquito fish and the water lilies. I like to sit on the bench nearby and meditate on this magical microcosm.
Despite the strange weather the migrating birds are coming back on schedule. We don't see so many cardinals and titmouses (titmice?) at the feeders. I think they are busy incubating their eggs. Bluebirds can usually be seen perching on the fence out front. The hummingbirds demand that their feeders be full by dive bombing us on the porch.
The most exciting thing, birdwise, is Bob and Emily's nest! These are our resident sandhill cranes who have been here for several years. But we have never been able to find their nest until this year. Last week I saw them tossing grass and small sticks around in a spot on the ground next to the big pond. Finally this afternoon we saw one of them sitting on the nest. Later, I went out to watch them and saw the two birds change places. Emily, slightly smaller, was on the nest. Soon Bob strolled into view (where was he all day?). Very slowly, very stately, he delicately approached the nest. When he got right up to it, Emily arose, stretched out her neck to Bob. For several moments Emily pecked at the ground, and then, very slowly, Bob sank down, the faithful spouse on duty.
I worry about these birds and their upcoming parenthood. There are large cows tromping around, and the pond is full of alligators. And coyotes, ye gads. We are going away for five days. I wonder how the time will go for these elegant birds? They'll sit on those eggs in ninety degree sun, or in the rain and thunderstorms that have been promised. And each morning they'll greet the day with their wild vocalizations.
The barn tonight is full of fireflies. And wrens nesting everywhere.
We had a salad tonight of red lettuce, snow peas and our first asparagus - a perfect accompaniment to Andy's thin crust pizza topped with the last broccoli florets from the garden. When we return the broccoli will be all gone to flowers which will make the butterflies happy.
I am so eagerly anticipating our few days in New York City! We have opera and play tickets, museums and galleries to explore, music to hear and friends to see. I love the energy and color and motion of New York, the buildings and noise and possibilities. But I know that at some point I will be ready to leave all that teeming life, that brushing against so many people, the blaring sounds, the restaurants, the hermetically sealed hotel. I will be glad to get back to this paradise of space and the subtlety of spring changing into summer.
Happy Easter!
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