April 13th, Mud season is certainly here, dirty white patches of snow are left only in the shaded edges of the pastures and where it was piled. With thawing of the ground, the risk of any significant basement flooding has receded.
A turning point, the rains of last night have convinced the planet to release my sculpture. I’ve been going out every day and got part of it to wiggle, but until today the base was firmly frozen in. Today, all that changed. With a mighty heave, I managed to get it up and dragged it a few feet from its internment. I don’t remember how I ever got it out of my car (a long-ago car) and to its initial placement, but I know I won’t eschew help getting it on and off a truck.
I don’t exactly remember Nathan Nicols’ name for it. He was in a long code violation dispute with the town about selling his sculptures from his home and the name was from something they accused him of committing.
In Maine, Easter is a herald of what is to come, in southern New England, it is a recognition of the presence of “that Aprille with his shoures soote” as Geoff Chaucer mentioned.
I remember attending a Sunrise Service on more than one Easter with my family atop East Rock. There is something magic about dawn, and sharing a dawn with others. My family will gather to share a meal, those who can, if not atop East Rock, then in its environs. From what I can tell from Wunderground, there was no visible sunrise today anyway, so they could sleep in. Happy Holiday to all who worship, and all who are family.
The turkeys travel through twice a day, heading north, probably to the dairy farm next door where corn grew in recent months but also they range through the woods. In the evenings they head back to my place to spend the night. Coming in from the north they run to the bird feeder and glean what sunflower seeds may have fallen whole from the feeder, then some will go out to the apple tree in the south pasture, then off they go to roost in trees at the edges of my pasture. Amazingly invisible even in deciduous trees in winter. Oh sure, you see them, but you mostly only see them once they move. Big birds with an incredible invisibility shield.
This is the season for mating, I don’t often get a front row seat in the soap opera that is turkey sex, but the early evening migration gave me an idea of how complicated it can be.
I made a great video, but at 2 min it’s too large to put in here so more education on my part is needed to figure out how to share videos and to answer the currently unanswered question, how large is too large? And how long it that anyway in video terms?
So Interesting and well written! Thanks Bea. Love your blog:- )
So interesting! Love your blog:- )