Last week, I posted this picture taken by my sister of a robin searching for bugs for an early spring meal. Cornwall Ontario doesn’t see robins during the winter. We have blue-jays, cardinals, woodpeckers, chickadees, juncos, sparrows, and large swarms of black birds that can make a bare tree look as if it’s full of leaves. We have pigeons and sometimes turkeys, too, but never robins, so when the robins come back, it’s always cause for celebration.
This morning, I saw cowbirds and robins feeding on the newly exposed grass. With the sun there must be tons of juicy bugs to eat.
Have you ever wondered how the birds know when to come back? I(t isn’t as if they do it at exactly the same time every year. Last year, the snow and cold lasted well into April. This year, maybe out of pity for us, Mother Nature provided us with a reasonably mild winter. Even in January, we had temperatures in the high teens, twenties, thirties, even forties. Last week, we actually had a day when the mercury hit 60 degrees.
The only problem for me was the incredible dampness that went with Mother Nature’s milder days, and the regular, seemingly endless days without sunshine. Of course, that’s probably because for the last three years, I have spent ten -to fourteen days basking in the Caribbean sun, but not this year!
Thanks to COVID 19, there was no fun in the sun this year. So how did we change things up? We brought back the Sunday afternoon drive. We stayed in our area and traveled the lesser known back roads, admiring houses, farms, trees, and whatever else we could see. We stared in amazement at fishing shacks on the frozen river. We marvelled at children skating and sliding, but we did not stop where there were people. If we did stop, it was in an isolated region for a stretch. But now, that may change.
Spring arrives officially on Saturday, March 20th. The long range forecast is for fifty-two degrees, a light breeze, and 12 hours of pure sunlight. That’s how you really know spring is here. The days are longer! So, since we still can’t go anywhere or do anything, we need to find creative ways to pass the time.
I’m going to start by looking for the birds and the flowers. My crocuses are up, those hardy little purple blooms another sign of spring.
And once the temperatures climb. I will sit outside and read. Looking for something to read? Check out my website. https://mhsusannematthews.ca/ You’ll find all of my books listed there. I’m hard at work on The White Dahlia from which I showcase scenes each week. I’m also working on The next book in my Cocktails For You series, Make Mine a Manhattan. The end of April is the deadline for The While Dahlia.
But now, the sun is shining, it’s 40 degrees and I’m going to sit out in the sun. Enjoy!
Living the Dream 