Bright Ideas

Robins returned before I thought the ground was thawed. Were there any worms near the surface for which robins could peck? What else do robins eat? Brice is seeing more cottontails when he looks through the windows.

We used to have a cottontail nursery under our front ramp; close enough to watch through our front window when youngsters tentatively ventured outside. A cat may have discovered the den, or some other predator who dragged the dead babies out to the street. No more life has emerged from under the ramp.

I had never seen jack rabbits until a trip down Highway 323. They aren’t easily confused with cottontails. Are they even related?

There are some meadowlarks, sparrows, and vultures. Geese and cranes are passing through. Ranchers have young calves and lambs. I suppose humans are the only animal to give birth year round.

What other signs of spring am I missing? I have tulips and daffodils poking up through the mulch. In the garden, garlic has just broken through the surface. Those are certainly signs of spring. Everything surfacing early is susceptible to frost damage.

Later, hopefully late enough to miss frost damage, fruit trees will grow beautiful and aromatic blooms to attract bees for pollination and fruit production. Before that happens, Brice has started pruning the tree. That’s a much bigger task than I realized.

When blooms proliferate he needs to remove those too close to each other; choose which to leave so they can grow larger fruit. A former worker in commercial orchards explained this practice. Formerly we were just thrilled to see multiple blossoms.

Get ready for the beauty of spring no matter how late or short it is!

And then it snows seven inches.