I'm resigned to yet another blast of what NOAA is labeling, "wintry blend." Such a creative turn of phrase from sober-sided meteorologists! I prefer Dr. Seuss's expression for such unwelcome precipitating yuck from on high: oobleck. (Writing of precipitation reminds me of a cartoon that I always displayed when launching into general concepts of solutions, cellular equilibrium, diffusion, etc. in my high school Biology class. I paraphrase the caption: "Don't be left behind as a precipitate; be part of the solution." My students rarely laughed, but I always chuckled at the joke, as well as their failure to appreciate its humor.) In any case, our wintry blend consists of north-wind-driven snow, a repetition of the same old/same old that we've been receiving for what seems an eternity. I again fed in crowded corrals and spread fresh straw in barns to encourage lambs to spend the night inside. My grim mood lightened amidst their joyous response to dry bedding: cork-screw sun-fishing, high leaps and fancy arabesques, madcap relay races into and out of their respective shelters--once in pursuit of a sad killdeer trying to huddle unobtrusively under shelter. Though I dread yet more precipitation and cold, though my legs ache from slogging through ever-deepening mud, though the job of digging out accumulated layers of wet bedding will be daunting, for the moment, I'm trying to "be part of the solution." That effort fuels my optimism. So, too, does this photo of triplets hunkered into their cozy and exclusive nighttime digs.
2 Comments
Vicki Anderson
4/7/2018 07:28:16 pm
Beautiful reading...and thinking! Here's to spring, especially to you, Margaret!
Reply
Margaret Eller
4/8/2018 11:08:46 am
Surely the bedraggled robins, killdeers, and even a lonely meadowlark are harbingers of sunny days ahead. Each evening I lift a glass to such prospects. Cheers and thanks, Vicki.
Reply
Leave a Reply. |
Margaret zieg ellerFor 25 years, Prairie Island has been my anchor, my core, my muse. The seasonal rhythms of land and livestock sustain me. The power of place inspires me. Archives
June 2023
Categories |