Signs of spring...

March is a special month in our family. This page on the calendar is home to our wedding anniversary and three birthdays; Rachel's, Bravo's and mine. In my head March is the beginning of spring, too. Realistically, this is a bit of a stretch, because we live so far north. But there are signs of spring if I take time to look.

In the winter the chickadee's sing a little song that sounds like, "Chick a dee dee."  In the spring they change their tune to a cheery little, "Phoebe" song. My friend Liz pointed this out to me years ago when I first moved to Maine. Now I listen carefully and delight when the spring time song begins. I have also heard bluebirds singing their mating song, and saw a red winged blackbird last week, newly arrived from warmer climes. The birds know it is time to find love and build nests. Soon the air will be filled with song from dawn till dusk.

Daffodils are for sale at the grocery store. They come in tight bunches with the buds barely open, but in a day or two they spread their yellow cups and scent the air sweetly. There are no flowers blooming here yet, but they are growing somewhere, and that is hopeful. 

Sennebec Pond is still mostly frozen,I can glimpse the dull, flat, whiteness of it through the trees. However, there are areas of dark, open water near the shore. Canada geese are migrating back. I can hear them calling from where they dabble and splash, sandwiched in the narrow space of water between the ice and the rocky edges. Soon the lake will be open again and they can search out nest sites for the next generation. 

Almost all the ice and snow has melted from our back yard. I was able to do chores wearing sneakers instead of my heavy winter boots with ice grips on. The chickens and ducks have vast new areas to explore now that the ground is open. They find seeds and bugs and who knows what else. At night when they head to their coops, it is gratifying to see their crops bulging full of whatever they gobble while scratching about in the dead leaves and grass. 

They are laying lots of lovely eggs. Yesterday I got my first "regular" sized egg, (above left.) Their first pullet eggs have been rather petite, but as they mature the size should increase. I feel the need to whip up a tasty quiche! 

The goats are looking very round. If I hold the flat of my hand against their swollen bellies I am sometimes rewarded by feeling a kid kick. This delights me. I am watching carefully for signs of impending birth. If I counted right, Spirit should kid next weekend. Nothing says "spring" quite as much as the sight of goat kids leaping and twisting around the pasture. 

Spring is coming, step by welcome step.