Thinking Spring

With snow still on the ground, it is sometimes difficult to see the promise of spring in spite of all the signs.

And with Easter coming so early, it is difficult to see that as part of the process.  There is too much snow to see Easter, but I felt I needed to get a start on it on it.  Even with only one week to March 31, I got out the Easter decorations this week. 

I put clings on the windows, pictures of happy Easter bunnies. I hung the Easter banner on the honeysuckle bush, then began to add the colored plastic eggs.

The bush was pretty much covered with eggs and I still had plenty left.  Then I realized that last summer Gary trimmed the lilac bushes.  I usually hung eggs there, too, but the bush hasn't grown enough to do that. Next year.  

Now there is snow but the pastel eggs bring a little color to my world, enough to hold me until lilac time.

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Tonight is the Earth Hour so tonight at 8:30 pm all the lights and electrical appliances will be turned off.
Not a major change but I like to make a statement with the millions of others around the world.  

Writiing Stuff

Thoughts on writing, past and present:

I worked all morning on my next collection of short stories.  It is going smoothly because all of the stories come from the blog.  They seem to fit together rather well.  Only four to go and I send Susan the book for proofing, probably by Monday.  I hope to have a box of books by the end of April.

Yesterday I was in the library talking to Colette who has been reading Black Coffee Fiction,  the short story collection Wade and I did together.  She told me she prefers Wade's stories which was fine because earlier Sandy at Sissy's told me she prefers mine.  Colette likes fantasy, which is what Wade writes, while my specialty is what Francine calls "chick flicks with a twist."  Each to his or her own, I guess.

Today, Wade posted his latest story, "Roll Credits" at Black Coffee Fiction, http://blackcoffeefiction.blogspot.com  This is another take on a previous story "Rock Singer", written from another point of view. I began to tell a reader to go back to that story on line then realized she couldn't because we removed it from the blog once we put it into the short story collection.  I guess she will have to buy the book.

Ten years ago this week, I wrote a newspaper column saying that going to war in Iraq was a big, crazy mistake.  I was fired when I refused to keep my mouth shut. I found many people who agreed with me and made new friends.  When friends in New Zealand heard about it they spread the word there and what do you know, I wound up going on tour there because the Kiwis didn't like that war any more than I did.

And in the end, I was right.

Drip, Drip, Drip

I walked around the neighborhood today to listen to spring coming on.  The robins are here in force now and chirruping to let us know about it.  The cardinals are calling.  I call back at them and we start a calling war. I make sure I walk past the yards of the city's best gardens and sure enough the first crocuses are blooming.  So are the snowdrops behind the library.  

Above everything I hear drip, drip, drip. The snow is melting off the roof tops and along the sidewalks.  Where before I had to dodge ice patches, I now dodge puddles. It is warmer now but wet feet can still be very cold indeed. 

I drive to Shiocton to see what is going on in the marshes. There is more ice now than the last time I was there but there is still some open water. The sandhill cranes are there.  I can't see them because they hide in the old reeds but I can hear their guard calls.  An eagle floats above.  It must be one of  the eagles from the nest over at Kringle Road.  They probably are already sitting on eggs, taking turns.  One hunts while the other sits.  

In a nearby field there are dozens of turkeys.  It must have been an easier winter than we thought during the cold of January and February because I have never seen so many turkeys in my life.  Almost every field has at least several. 

I come home feeling spring.  Because of the early Easter, I originally thought I wouldn't decorate because of the snow, but I change my mind and begin to hang the colored plastic eggs from the bushes. The bright colors are another part of spring. I will put up an Easter lily banner tomorrow.  

The long range weather forecast says warmer and warmer weather until we reach 50s by April 1.  Could we still have snow?  Absolutely, but I doubt that any of it will stick for long.  

Spring in My Steps

Today was the first day of spring and and the last day of my birthday.

My birthday often goes on for several days. Friends remember a St. Patrick's Day birthday and that means cards that begin arriving a week early and go on for a few days afterward. Today, I think I got the last cards, from New Zealand and France. The parties began on Saturday and ended today with lunch with Susan and Bob Manzke.

Susan made beef stew, using a package of stir fry for vegetables. I never would have thought of that combination.  It was delicious as was the cornbread.We chatted about current events and past events.Today is the tenth anniversary of the day I got fired for writing a newspaper column about the Iraq war and my attendance at an anti-war rally. I refused to back down. These many years later I have been proved right but at what cost?  How many lives were lost because of the stupid decision to go to that war?

Susan agreed to proof my next book, which should be done in about a week. We watched the bird feeders through the kitchen window. Susan reported seeing a red breasted nuthatch, common in the north woods but rare around here. Then a red bellied woodpecker made his appearance.  I used to get one here but hadn't seen one for years.  What a handsome fellow.

I ate hardy, polished the meal off with a coffee cake muffin and then thought "Oh no!".

I want to lose twenty pounds by June and started the process on Sunday. I'd already lost three pounds before I ate that meal. When I got home I checked a calorie counter and realized I ate over a thousand calories in that one meal. I would have to exercise it off. I put my winter jacket on and headed out to the cold, cold, cold beginning of spring. In fact, there was no wind. With no wind, no wind chill.  Bundled up I was able to walk for an hour and a half. I had a salad for supper. I hope that does the trick.

Tomorrow the temperatures begin to climb and in another week we'll be walking around in our spring clothes. 

Cold

Tomorrow is the spring equinox, but it doesn't feel like it.  Cold weather has returned, but I pushed myself to go out and walk anyhow.

The wind chill can be terrible, but if I walk downtown, the buildings protect me.  However, I am thinking that I need to go walk in the swamp near the Good Shepherd Nursing Home on Bronson Road. Once inside the woods, the wind would be cut by half.  The problem is the big piles of snow around the entrance.  If I could get around those, the rest of the walk would be fine.

But I think I will wait two weeks for that excursion.  By then the first wildflowers should be showing.  Yes, the marsh is full of snow but by the first of April it will be gone.

Meanwhile, tomorrow is spring so I will go have lunch with Susan out on Miller Road. We'll gossip, talk books and look at the sandhill cranes in the fields.  I take signs of spring as they come.

Suddenly Spring

Two days until the equinox and instead of daffodils, we were warned that another snowstorm was on its way.

My birthday is always a day of reflection.  This year, my reflection led to a decision to get into shape before summer.  I bought a new journal set aside to keep track of my exercise and eating habits.  I set this week's goal of doing 75 minutes of exercise a day.  But with the storm set to hit us by noon, I had to get out and go walking early.  I was on my third mile when the snow began.  I turned toward home when I heard it, that lovely sound that I know from years of doing the annual Midwest Crane Count sponsored by the International Crane Foundation.  

I looked up and there he was, a sandhill crane, flying into the snow to get to the cranes' best resting stop, the Shiocton marshes on Van Patten Road.

Never mind the robins who have been around for a week.  They are foolish birds who never seem to know when winter is holding on. Their arrival is meaningless.

But the sandhill crane arrives when spring is really on its way so I know this is the last big snowstorm.  I know that in another week, the big tundra swans will be flying over along with the big V's of Canada geese.  And I know that shortly afterwards the migratory birds will be in the Shiocton marsh.

In the middle of April, the crane count will be on and about the same time, Gary and I will be called to guard sturgeon on the free flowing Wolf River.

Now that is spring for sure.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

The shamrock plant Evan gave to me yesterday is blooming today.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!