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By: Jim Fitzpatrick |
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Email: jim@nunica.com |
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Local Farmer in Polkton Township writes for the Coopersville Observer. |
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Along Brandy Creek By Jim Fitzpatrick
The Coopersville Observer February 28, 2011- - No. 106 |
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Ten degrees and two feet of snow. A pair of Eastern Bluebirds flits through the maples and pass by the kitchen windows in flight to the bird feeder. How strange to see them having returned from their southern migration so soon. Do they not know that it is only mid-February and the breakup of winter obviously is not just around the corner? Might they possibly know something more than we do? Maybe!
The snows of January blanket the yard and fields. February flurries continue to add to the accumulation. The temperature since the turn of the New Year has crawled to near the minus twenty degree mark more than once. Schools were shut down for a couple of days when the drifting snow and cold closed in on the countryside. The kids had fun staying home. A pleasing sense of isolation brings the hustle and bustle of everyday life to a slowed down pace. Savoring the flavor of hot chocolate or coffee comes easier. The warm cup between the hands is held on to longer. Getting up from that easy chair by the front window as daylight comes on takes more effort. The mail arrives late in the day or not at all. The road commission’s red and yellow snow plowing trucks can be heard trundling over the country roads far into the night.
In time the winds die down, porches and walkways are shoveled off. Driveways are plowed out to connect with the world out there of town and highways beyond. Where do those two Eastern Bluebirds find shelter when the sun goes down on such cold blustery nights?! |
