Saturday, March 5, 2011

Those "sure" signs of spring

"When the red, red robin comes bobbin' along...
Yesterday afternoon, my wife happened to glance out onto our deck and spotted a nice, fat robin perched on the rail as if to say: "OK, guys, I'm here now. Let the springtime fun and games begin!" And since the temperatures were hovering near 50°, it didn't seem so out of character for this spotting. As we here in northern Illinois know, cold and wintry weather is far from over, and robins can't help it if they jump the gun a bit in showing up for their annual "announcement" that spring has arrived! The first week of March, really, is not a time to dig out the shorts and t-shirts and begin a lot of outdoor work around the place. Maybe, though, it's time to plant the thought that it won't be long! 


Early this morning, a short time ago, I awoke to gray skies, much-colder temperatures than yesterday, and a light spitting of snow. My first thought was that reality had returned once again, and that the robin's appearance on our back deck yesterday was simply a fluke. After all, as my wife was quick to point out, there are many robins who stay in this part of the country year 'round. I'm not an expert in the world of ornithology, so I can't argue with her. 


Shortly after my first cup of Folger's this morning, I took our dog, Casey, out for her morning "calling." As I watched her cavort and snoop in the adjacent vacant lot, a large flock of robins bounced about on the ground, flew up into the neighbor's tree and back down again, and seemed to say all over again: "We're here. Let the springtime fun and games begin!"


Even as I write this, looking out my "window to the world," I am witness to five or six of the friendly birds--those harbingers of spring--as they dart and flit about in the lightly spitting snow in the backyard. Are they perhaps wondering what the heck they're doing here? Or are they, in fact, trying to say: "Let the springtime fun and games begin?" Who knows?



It's fun to speculate and get our hopes up a bit that the light at the end of winter's tunnel might be for real. We shall travel down that road in the days ahead...MLA

2 comments:

  1. No sign of robins here yet but I look forward to them too. Hopefully spring is just around the corner.

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  2. We'll be sure to send some to you friends to the north! Stay warm...Mark

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