At least we have buttercups and hummingbirds
My father was born on what was then considered to be the first day of spring on 3/21 in 1916. Even through the more modern date is the following day March 21 will always mark the beginning of the season for me. Daddy died in April many years ago. He loved spring; so it is comforting to know he got to enjoy some of it before he was hospitalized for the last time. My late mother-in-law was also born within a few days of the beginning of the season in 1930. When I think of Daddy and Lil I remember them as joyful people. Coincidence? Autumn used to be my favorite season, probably because of nostalgia around our trip “home” to Kentucky when I was 10 years old. On that trip northward I saw the first display of fall leaves in the mountains in my memory. Still, with each year I come around more to Daddy’s and Lil’s way of thinking about spring. Sure, we can have violent storms, but such is life. Look what we get in return!
With all the Wuhan virus pandemic news it is comforting to look out any window in my house and see a glorious clump of bright yellow. We did not initially intend to build our home where we did when we bought the land in 1994. Once we trekked in deep snow to our preferred sight at the end of a narrow 1/4 mile long ridge with a fabulous view of the river, we realized the substantial additional cost building a road to it would be. It also occurred to us that one slip on said road in an icy winter could keep us frozen in a hollow until the spring. When spring sprung in1996 old daffodils traced the walkway of the tenant house (long since demolished) at the front of our property. They were like a sign and construction started on our home later that year on that spot. Building dispersed the topsoil and bulbs. 23 years later naturalized buttercups now show up all over the place around our house. Some are around the utility pole at the drive entrance. Some got washed along a gully at the bottom of the hill behind the house. Some got washed all the way down to the old, wet weather pond where one can still see remnants of the demolished house before surrounding trees leaf out.
The forsythias are starting to bud out and crocuses are peeping through the soil in flower beds. Soon we’ll have the full explosion of spring in Kentucky with fruit trees blooming and dogwoods flowering out. I got married in April and the dogwoods and redbud trees were in all their glory for our honeymoon in the mountains of Tennessee.
Hummingbirds are also due back this month. Since several pairs usually spend the summer with us Bill has feeders ready for them at many windows. The buzzbombs tend to be very territorial and unwilling to share a feeder even when there is plenty of sugar water and access ports to spare. The numbers of feeders we make available multiplies every year. I think it is up to 8 for 2020. I do enjoy watching them, in our old age we have discovered the delights of watching the wild birds that visit us throughout the year. The number of bird feeders and nesting accommodations in the front yard have also multiplied over the years. Still, the old walnut tree right outside my bedroom window seems to be the favorite for a curious phoebe, upside-down nuthatches and bug-seeking flickers. Of course, the squirrels enjoy it, too. 3/12/2020