Ice pellets pinging against my windows announced yet another winter storm; this one on early Sunday morning. The birds and squirrels have harvested most of the crabapple berries; these are all that are left in Nature's larder. It's time for Spring to hurry up and get here!
The bitter winds have returned and the worn-out brown garden is again draped with frosty snow. I watched a frantic squirrel digging deeply into the snow and burrowing under leaves looking for the last of the acorn crop. Now I know why the pin oak trees were so heavily ladden with a bumper crop of acorns last autumn. The winter of 2007-2008 followed a devastating spring freeze and the trees had no yield - there were no acorns, no berries for the wildlife that winter. I had birds at my feeder that I had not seen before. Fall of 2008 also yielded few nuts; the trees had not yet recovered. But, in 2009, Mother Nature went wild with her bounty and no wonder - she seemed to know that THIS winter would be very cold and cruel to her children, so the trees and bushes were filled with food to tide the wildlife through. I do my part, too - feeders full, water in heated birdbath and plans for more fruit-bearing plants to come in the Spring.
Yet another cloudy, cold day....... However, here's a little reminder of the future days ahead. As our planet revolves around the Sun, it is heading for that first Spring time day in March and color will return to our landscape once again. Keep the warm thoughts and have a Blessed Day!
