Our house: 5 a.m.
Cheep... cheep ... cheep ... CHEEP.
Cheep... cheep ... cheep ... CHEEP.
For the past several days, a persistent bird has started his (mating?) song well before the sun comes up -- and well before C. or I would like to be awake. Today, it is dumping rain, but he was still out there cheeping. I imagine a little, puffed up bird trying to hide under whatever leafless branch he can find at this time of year...
Well, C. jokingly threatened to shoot it with a BB gun. (I love birds, there's no way I would let him.)
I just said, "It's pouring rain, and he's still singing."
C.'s Facebook status this morning told me that he got it. A quote: "Some birds sing when the sun shines bright. My praise is not for them but the one who sings in the dead of night. I raise my cup to him. Some flowers bloom when the green grass grows. My praise is not for them but the one who blooms in the bitter snow. I raise my cup to him." - Anais Mitchell
Indeed. Here's to all the birds singing in the rain.
I LOVE spring. Love it.
I get childishly excited when I see a tulip about to bloom and notice new buds on the trees. For every new flower that comes up in our yard, I run inside to tell C. "Guess what? We have grape hyacinth!" (We have lived in our current house for less than a year, and the previous owner planted a variety of bulbs. Every new flower is like a little surprise gift she left just for me.)
I return from walks with my dog to report on the latest builds of the muskrats in the canal (muskrats! I had never seen them before); the current mating phase of the mallards (they have all paired off and found their own nesting sites -- no more hanging out as a flock for awhile); the butterfly cocoons that are about to hatch; the neighborhood cats on the hunt; and the beautiful animals I have seen. (This week, a great blue heron and a pelican. Beautiful!)
C. patiently puts up with my giddy reports and responds with a disinterested "uh-huh."
I don't care. (Where's my sticking-my-tongue-out icon?) This trait is something that has not left me since childhood. I love nature. I love animals. I love watching for little changes and reporting on animal sociology.
I rarely invite anyone else on these walks because I know they wouldn't appreciate them. I would also miss out on the details of my surroundings because I would be talking to my husband or a stepkid (or listening to one of the kids' monologues, more likely). These walks are a gift I give myself several times a week - and I hope to continue the practice for many years to come.
I am taking a moment to give my brain a break. So, just a few random thoughts on my mind:
~ Ham. I ate a full piece of ham yesterday for the first time in at least 16 years. I ate it because my husband made it, it's what we were serving for Easter and I was hungry, and I am a little tired of not eating the things that everyone else eats. C. made two kinds - smoked and glazed - and they were both wonderful. (I made scalloped potatoes and glazed pineapples, for anyone who thinks I am a holiday kitchen slacker. I also made a roasted veggie quiche for C. for breakfast.)
~ Sisters. I really, really miss my sisters. They live in the same metro area, but they are 1.5 hours and 45 minutes away, respetively, and I just don't see them as often as I would like. I wonder if this is a byproduct of marriage? Being a newlywed, I'm not sure.
~ Friends. Ditto the above for my closest girlfriends.
~ I need to find a way to see people more often. Maybe we'll make another ham and some scalloped potatoes and have everyone over.
~ I have never considered myself a great hostess, but I think I do OK as C.'s backup. Maybe we should host more dinner parties in general?
~ I had a really nice weekend with the stepkids. It was a perfect balance. They spent Easter morning with their mom and it gave C. and me some quiet time, but it was also nice to color eggs with them the night before and to have them for our late afternoon Easter dinner.
