Birds and Farmers

It started with the return migration of the Canada Geese.  Arrows pointed north. We thought surely they are mistaken, and wondered if they themselves might be thinking about a return trip to Arizona or some other such warm, southern locale.  But then shortly thereafter, we spied the first robin of the season, flitting among the caragana rows. Ruby breasted and bringing with him a stronger inkling that warmer weather and longer days would soon be here, too. Then came the songbirds, chirping the news of the long winter to each other as they set at building their nests, their summer homes. Spring has arrived.

With the avian residents return, the Snowbirds came with them.  Over the past two weeks or so they have come home to houses left vacant over the past several months, their own migration that of Christmas to Easter.

Easter seems to be the mark of a return of farmers to their fields this year.  All of a sudden the fields are populated with machinery.  Seed is deposited into the earth with the hope of a return of a high-yielding crop in August or September.  Spirits match the tune of the songbirds-- hope is high and dispositions are cheery.  It is necessary to pass through the gentle calm of winter to appreciate the burgeoning spring and all that it brings.  Birds and farmers both know this is the time to return to work.   This land that has felt so empty over the winter months suddenly is thriving once again.