Winter’s on the Way

Everything is winding down outside. Birds are restless: geese flying in formation above the wetlands, as flocks of blackbirds pass overhead emitting a steady stream of dry chucks. Goldfinches, though not joining the others on their journeys, are active too. Motley in their drab winter plumage, their high, thin squeaks and chatter betray their location as they forage on the abundant seeds left from the summer’s rainbow of flowers.

It’s always a little hard to watch things slow down and settle in for the winter.

It is almost time to change views, switch from examining each flower for a tiny insect in constant motion and scanning the horizon for each new bloom to watching the textures and shadows of winter, maybe paying more attention to the shape of the clouds and the drops of water clinging to leaves in the early morning chill.

Soon there will be snow and frost, etching patterns on glass and sparkling in the glare of the low winter sun. Instead of wet squelches, footsteps will be punctuated with dry crunches. Concern over ticks and mosquitoes gives way to numb fingers and the sting of ice-cold air in your nose.

Thank goodness for those hardy birds that brave the local weather with us year-round: the cheery cardinals and acrobatic chickadees, the robust woodpeckers and the hearty sparrows. They remind us of the life that has moved south or underground, waiting for the warmth to return in the spring.

Originally published in Sycamore Greenway Friends.