As I headed out for a walk early this sunny morning, my ears tuned in to a chorus of birds that I was only vaguely familiar with. As I passed by the crabapple tree nearest the barn, I saw it was filled with a flock of Cedar or Bohemian Waxwings. They were busily dining on all the crabapples that I never got around to stringing and drying this past fall. I only wish I had turned around and gone back for my camera, as it is rare to see these lovely birds, for they only pass through on their homeward migration, where-ever that may be. Their visit is brief... perhaps an hour or two, as they stop to rest and eat... and then they are on their way again. I have missed them the past two years, so this was a lovely sight.
Now it is evening, and snow has been falling softly for several hours. We are expected to get 4 to 6 inches by tomorrow, which will cover all the bare spots and give the remaining dirt-spattered snow a fresh, clean covering of white! The temperature has been in the upper thirties and low forties for many days, which has compacted the snow and topped it all with a slick, hard crust. I shoveled out a pathway to the greenhouse in anticipation of seed-starting, and I am pleased to say that it has withstood the heavy snows and icings of this winter without collapsing! Now I need to call my neighbor and have a chat with him about rigging up some type of heater to maintain the temperature during the night...
Well, til next time, and I'll leave you with a snippet of verse from the tome "Rhymes of Vermont Rural Life" written by one of my favorite poets, Daniel L. Cady
How pleasant winter used to be, when snow was cheap and ice was free!
No cold, no frost, could then subdue our hearts or make our boozums stew;
The drifts shut out the evidence, tis very true, of wall and fence,
But that was satisfactory, too, for snow was made to waddle through.
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