It's All Right

"The year's at the spring,
And day's at the morn;
Morning's at seven;
The hill-side's dew-pearled;The lark's on the wing;
The snail's on the thorn;
God's in his Heaven—All's right with the world!"- Robert Browning, The Year's at the Spring

I've had two new birds at my feeders this past week (that I know of). It was April home leave--the last one of the year (amazing), so I was home during the day when I otherwise wouldn't be. two days in a row, then, there were new birds. They weren't exotic birds, just a brown-headed cowbird and a pair of white-winged doves. But they were new nonetheless, and have been regulars throughout the weekend. All too soon, though, I'll have to shut down my little backyard bird-feeding station while I return to New England for a chunk of the summer. I'm sure they'll manage without me, though =)

Yesterday, I went to a friend's house for lunch and ended up staying until late in the evening. She lives way out in the desert, so it was all new to me. The cactus are in full bloom right now, as are many of the trees, so the normally drab desert is rather colorful. We spent a good share of the afternoon out on the porch soaking up the beauty of the flowers and the birds that enjoy her backyard. She even had a cardinal, something I haven't seen for almost a year now!

Linger Awhile

The birds at my back patio feeders are greedy and messy. And their messiness has brought a family of mice to reside there as well. The mice are growing as fat as the birds. Fortunately the seeds keep them content away from my house. Still, in spite of these side effects, I am enjoying the bird activity on the other side of the living room glass. I am starting to recognize specific birds, not just species. Goldfinch and other little yellow birds have appeared in the past two weeks. They chow down on the seed as if it were their last meal, singing in between dips into the seed.

The Mourning Doves are bullies, chasing each other and the smaller Inca Doves. The finches (both house and gold) are cheerful and agile. The Abert's Towhee is loud; so is the Gila woodpecker. The Mockingbirds are acrobats, often doing the splits between one feeder and the next. Other little birds come and go making for a hopping little bird's paradise. I've definitely enjoyed lingering awhile as I watch their comings and goings.

from I STOOD TIPTOE

by John Keats

Linger awhile upon some bending planks
That lean against a streamlet's rushy banks,
And watch intently Nature's gentle doings:
They will be found softer than ring-dove's cooings. (61-64)

Sometimes goldfinches one by one will drop
From low hung branches; little space they stop;
But sip, and twitter, and their feathers sleek;
Then off at once, as in a wanton freak:
Or perhaps, to show their black, and golden wings,
Pausing upon their yellow flutterings. (87-92)

A Prayer in Spring

Robert Frost (1915)

Oh, give us pleasure in the flowers to-day;
And give us not to think so far away
As the uncertain harvest; keep us here
All simply in the springing of the year.

Oh, give us pleasure in the orchard white,

Like nothing else by day, like ghosts by night;
And make us happy in the happy bees,
The swarm dilating round the perfect trees.

And make us happy in the darting bird
That suddenly above the bees is heard,
The meteor that thrusts in with needle bill,
And off a blossom in mid air stands still.

For this is love and nothing else is love,

The which it is reserved for God above

To sanctify to what far ends He will,
But which it only needs that we fulfill.

Photos taken two weeks ago in the Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix, AZ

A Prayer in Spring by Robert Frost

OH, give us pleasure in the flowers today;

And give us not to think so far away

As the uncertain harvest; keep us here

All simply in the springing of the year.

Oh, give us pleasure in the orchard white,

Like nothing else by day, like ghosts by night;

And make us happy in the happy bees,

The swarm dilating round the perfect trees.

And make us happy in the darting bird
That suddenly above the bees is heard,
The meteor that thrusts in with needle bill,
And off a blossom in mid air stands still.

For this is love and nothing else is love,

To which it is reserved for God above

To sanctify to what far ends he will,

But which it only needs that we fulfill.

Can Spring Be Far Behind?

I am longing for spring. Not that I've minded the winter this year. Just that I am itching for more sun, for warmer weather, for brighter colors, for flowers. So much so that I bought four bunches of daffodils on Friday. I bought the tightest buds I could find, as I enjoy watching them open up. By morning, they were open and filling the house with their musky springy scent. Made me think of the last stanza of Percy Bysshe Shelley's poem Ode to the West Wind:

Make me thy lyre, even as the forest is:

What if my leaves are falling like its own!

The tumult of thy might harmonies

Will take from both a deep, autumnal tone,

Sweet though in sadness Be thou, Spirit fierce,

My spirit! Be though me, Impetuous one!

Drive my dead thoughts over the universe

Like withered leaves to quicken a new birth!

And, by the incantation of this verse,

Scatter, as from an unextinguished hearth

Ashes and sparks, my words among mankind!

Be through my lips to unawakened Earth

The trumpet of a prophecy! O Wind,

If Winter comes, can Spring be far behind?

The Iris Have It

The iris are blooming all over campus.  I took some shots Friday morning of the various shades and colors.

A Beautiful Noise

Even though it's not here officially for another two weeks, Spring rather loudly proclaimed its imminent arrival today in two distinct ways.  When I arrived at school this morning my ears were literally assaulted with a cacophony of bird song coming from the woodsy marsh on the far edge of the property.  It was, indeed a beautiful noise.  I've been hearing birds there for the past few weeks, but not the roar it was this morning.  A sure sign of spring =)

My little window bird feeder has continued to see constant activity from a dozen or so birds: the shy cardinal pair, the sparrows (still can't tell what kind for certain), and the several titmice.  They are the boldest and most comfortable.  There are two, in fact, who stop to sing to me before taking their seeds each time.  I still can't get great pictures, but they do put a bright spot in my day each time they come to eat, especially when they sing to me.  Another beautiful noise =)

When I left school this afternoon, the snow had melted enough to reveal . . . the daffodils have pierced the frozen ground and are on their way to blooming!  I was so excited!  Another sure sign of spring!  And while there was no noise involved there on the part of the daffodils, I certainly was making a joyful noise at seeing them =)

Harbinger of Spring?

I had lots of visitors to the bird feeder today. The tufted titmice are the most constant regulars, and they now come two at a time. Juncos and chickadees have been hanging around, but today I saw the first ones at the feeder. The cardinals sneak in when they think I'm not looking, and the squirrel came back, as bold as ever. Sigh.

I have to admit, it's a bit distracting having the birds this close to where I'm trying to work, but they also take me away in moments of stress, for which I am thankful =)

I always thought of robins as one of the first harbingers of spring. But as I've said before, I've seen and heard robins all winter long , so that's not necessarily so this year. When I got home this afternoon, I caught this robin preening on the rooftop. Notice how brilliantly blue the sky is! It's been frigid today (cold enough to freeze the insides of my nose!), but it's supposed to warm up into the 50s over the weekend. I do hope that means spring is on its way!

A Flurry of Birds

Yesterday morning, I woke up early and went outside to watch the birds. This is a rare opportunity for me, as I don't have a great backyard the way my parents do. I sat on the patio and reveled in the cacophony of bird song that surrounded me. I had my camera in hand, ready to capture as many birds as I could.

I had been watching an indigo bunting flit back and forth in the front yard the day before, but while I was sitting in the back yard, it suddenly appeared. I watched the male bluebird go in and out of the house feeding his mate. I was buzzed by a couple of hummingbirds, I saw both downy and hairy woodpeckers and countless others previously mentioned (yesterday).

What a great way to ease into the day! I'm not sure I'd ever get off to work if I could strart every day this way!

Playing Catch Up

I've been so busy the past week or so that I didn't have time to blog. Every night last week I had a meeting of some kind. Board meeting, Red Sox game (!), personnel meeting (we hired a new math teacher), Parent Appreciation dinner, Science Fair, etc. It was exhausting, although very productive, and often fun. The days were no less challenging. Anyone who teaches knows what the last couple weeks of school are like. Kids are restless, teachers are near the end of their rope. Add in a full moon (the "Flower" moon), and you have a recipe for disaster. Except it wasn't really a disaster. Just a huge test of patience.

The baby robins are thriving. They are covered with feathers now, so much that they blend right in with their nest and I can't get any good pictures of them as there is no contrast between them, the nest and the grid I have to shoot through. The goslings are at least twice the size they were the week before. They've joined up with two other geese families and are systematically working throught the yards in the neighborhood around the school. Every morning on my way to work, I find them in a different front yard, gobbling up whatever it is they are finding there. Always, at any given moment, two adults are standing guard along the sidewalk.

Tuesday night my sister and her family took me to the Red Sox game for my birthday. We were right behind home plate...a place I haven't sat for many years (back when seats were $10 instead of $50...). We had a great time watching the Sox win (although it wasn't as exciting as the night before when John Lester pitched a no hitter). I sat there looking around the park at all the different places I've been there. I think I've probably sat in every single section at least once, except for the newer seats on top of the Green Monster (left field) and in the luxury boxes above home plate (although I've been inside once, on a tour). I love Fenway Park! It holds a lot of good memories for me...

Now, I'm up in Maine at my parents' for a couple of days. They've lived here for 5 years, now, and have worked hard to make their yard a magnet for birds. This year, they have more birds than I've ever seen before: indigo buntings, bluebirds (They come for worms when my mom whistles!), Baltimore orioles, goldfinches, purple finches, robins, mourning doves, meadow larks, blue jays, ruby throated humming birds, several kinds of sparrows, tree swallows, and more...all letting us know through their various songs and continued presence how much they enjoy and appreciated this haven.

Photos: Baltimore Oriole outside my parents' sunroom; Canada goose and goslings feeding in the school neighborhood; Jonathan Papelbon strikes out the last batter to win the game; male bluebird eating mealworms after my mom has whistled for him.

Beautiful flowering trees

I had some time to kill this morning (I had to meet someone but was about 20 minutes ahead of schedule) so I took a drive through the cemetery where my grandparents are buried. It had been raining fairly heavily just prior to my arrival, so everything looked so pretty and fresh. The flowering trees were out in full-force, so I took some pictures.

This is a favorite cemetery of mine. I wrote about it a couple years ago here. This time, I was just appreciating the beautiful trees.

A turtle, a grave, a raccoon and a great big weight

I was working in my office this afternoon when the office manager came in saying "Come! Bring your camera!" I grabbed my camera and went to see what the stir was about: a turtle, a slider turtle, I think. Some kids found it out in the ball field and brought it to our science teacher.

We let it go in one of the gardens. Usually we have several coming out of the swamp across the playground to the gardens around the building to lay their eggs. several weeks later, dozens of tiny turtles scramble their way back to the swamp. Kind of cool!

While I was watching the turtle crawl away, I noticed something strange under some bushes: a little graveyard for a bird the 4-6th graders found dead on the ground. I thought it was kind of sweet the way they buried it, complete with flowers and grave markers...

The other cause for excitement came when two boys came running in from the dumpster to say that a raccoon was sleeping in it! I went to check it out, and sure enough, a coon was curled up at the back of the dumpster. No amount of banging on the side would wake him (or her) up. Our theory is that he gorged himself on garbage and then was too full and sleep to move. "We put a board inside to give him a way out. An hour later he was gone.

Aside from these native visitors, it was fairly quiet today as our visiting team left last night around 7 p.m. after delivering the exit report and giving us the recommended accreditation term: the second highest possible--6 years with an interim visit at 3 years! I am so relieved! I didn't realize the weight of the stress of this evaluation until it was over and a two-ton weight dropped from my shoulders!

Quick trip to TN and back (via Dallas and Chicago)

"`But I don't want to go among mad people,' Alice remarked.

`Oh, you can't help that,' said the Cat: `we're all mad here. I'm mad. You're mad.'
`How do you know I'm mad?' said Alice.
`You must be,' said the Cat, `or you wouldn't have come here.'

'Curiouser and curiouser!' cried Alice."
~Alice in Wonderland

It was a crazy busy week last week, not leaving me much time for anything but work. I was supposed to go to Tennessee Thursday morning for interviews for new staff positions, but just as I was leaving for the airport, I got a call saying my flight was canceled because of bad weather in Chicago, but that I had been rescheduled to leave at 6:50 a.m. on Friday instead.

That meant that I was up at 4:30 Friday in order to make my plane. It also meant that I had to cancel one interview and reschedule the other. The trip was mostly smooth, but we got out of Dallas (instead of Chicago) late, so I was late to my rescheduled appointment. Brother!

Tennessee is far ahead of us as far as spring goes. Redbud, magnolias, Bedford pear trees were all in full bloom. The grass was nice and green. Birds are already nesting, and I saw some baby ducklings crossing the road with their mother. It rained quite a bit, too.

But I got in on an orchestra rehearsal of my niece's (my meetings were all at her university) and heard the orchestra play the next day. I saw a lot of old friends, former students, and former classmates, and made a presentation at the inaugural meeting of a new alumni chapter for our school. Unfortunately, I also got sick during my presentation and had to step away for several minutes to recover. My niece and her friend ended up taking me back to my hotel where I promptly went to sleep for the next 5 hours.

I had to get up at 4 this morning to catch my flight back home. I left so early that I saw the sun rise...from above the clouds...I was on the western wing, so the other side was more vivid. Still, it was beautiful. I also saw lake Michigan, full of ice patches, and, at long last, Boston, my favorite US city =)

It was good to get home. I enjoyed spending time with my niece and friends, but it wasn't long enough to really relish it. I would love to have had the time to go up to Lookout Mountain in Chattanooga, for example. But the glimpse of spring reminded me that good things are soon to come our way, too.

Photos: Teddy all packed and ready to travel; flowering tree and weeping willows; Bedford Pears line the street in Collegedale; a duck (no idea what kind) crosses the street in the rain; my friend Laurie conducts the Southern orchestra, my niece is playing the cello to her right; sunrise above the clouds; an icy Lake Michigan; Boston from the air