Tuesday Musings.

Oh those March winds!!! It sure was cold on the last official morning of Winter. When I stepped outside the house it was 27 degrees, with a wind chill of 22 and NE winds clipping along at about 20 mph. Nothing like a brisk walk in late March where your breath comes out in puffy vapors and nine articles of clothing still leaves you feeling a little numb as you stroll along the water’s edge. But, on the plus side, it was clear and dry and sunny, giving this day a 10 on Linda’s good shadow day meter.

As I wended my way down to Council Point Park, I mused to myself that a day like today would be perfect for kite-flying. A telltale sign of Spring used to be kites, with their beribboned tails bobbing in the wind and straining at the end of a long line held in the chubby hands of a little boy or girl. I never see kids flying kites anymore, so tell me ... are kites passé now?

Happy Spring, even if doesn’t feel very Spring-y out there.

This morning the birds were singing, buoyed by the brilliant sunshine and they simply disregarded the cold weather, deciding instead to fill the morning air with their delightful chirps, peeps and tweets. Perhaps it is just us humans who have a bone to pick with Mother Nature about this unrelenting cold.

Through the past five years, I’ve peppered my blog posts with many definitions to describe Spring:

Spring fling – casting off some of the layers that you’ve trudged around in the past six months, and there is nothing like having a lightweight jacket and slinging it around your waist and just basking in the sun on that first pleasantly warm day of Spring; or

Spring bling – that day when all the flowering trees come out and look like a passel of young women dressed in frilly pastels on their prom day; or

Spring sing – when your lips are finally not so frozen that you can purse them and sing along, note for note, with the birds in the trees.

Ahh, sweet and wonderful Spring. It is so welcome after a Winter like we’ve just had. And, even though my favorite season is actually Fall, I welcome the introduction of color into our blah and boring landscape, from those first blooms, be they crocuses, daffodils, tulips, or even dandelions. All of a sudden the world seems a little brighter, like those advertisements for Kodachrome film back in the day.

I know that Spring is in the air ... the squirrels are chasing one another up and down and around the trees.

The pair of doves are hanging around my neighbor’s deck deciding if they should use the same location for Mama Dove to lay her eggs and nurture their young like last year.

The sparrows have already made a makeshift nest in the blinds once again (don’t ask) causing smoke to erupt from my ears, despite my affinity for all my feathered friends.

The sap is rising and local farms are already advertising tours of their special trees that are tapped for maple syrup and the viewing of that process, as well as the making of maple snow candy.

I was glad to be back on the trail again today, having taken yesterday off to do a few errands, among them going to renew my driver's license. I sprung for a recreation pass for the first time ever, so I can gain access to some of Michigan's many state parks. I thought I would expand my horizons a little, so maybe I'll be posting pictures of wise owls, wide-eyed does and woodchucks once the weather warms up. I know there are some nice nature trails in these state parks, and I’ll look forward to traveling those paths and sharing the trips with you.

In the meantime, here is a video I’ve shared before about the changing seasons in the forest. This is Mother Nature at her finest, coupled with the beautiful song from the movie “The Cider House Rules” which people in Michigan will recognize right away as the theme music from the Pure Michigan commercials. I often view this video in the middle of the Winter as I anticipate the warm and beautiful days which are still on the horizon, and now, with Spring’s arrival, perhaps they are in reach once again.

Enjoy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=csnUV3Gz4Pk

You can catch up on my blog posts before I started blogging at Patch in August 2013 by going here: http://lindaschaubblog.net/