Migration

I’ve been thinking about migration a lot lately. It’s one of the rhythms of life in nature. Many of you know that my dad was recently very sick with a bowel obstruction. He was hospitalized for 9 days while his medical team treated him conservatively avoiding surgery. He is doing very well and has made a full recovery.

I received the call from my mom and Greg and I drove to NY right away. It was on Tuesday, the 9th. Greg drove back to MA on Saturday and I stayed to help out. He came back the following Friday and we both drove back on Saturday.

During my almost two week stay I did a lot of thinking and observing. One of the things that stood out in my mind as I was driving my mom back and forth to the hospital was all the migrating birds that we would see with so many different flight formations. I don’t see that where I live now. It brought me back to my childhood. I used to watch the birds head south every fall. I knew that winter was not far away. In the spring, back they would come. It was reassuring that the life cycle would continue.

We also are in a life cycle. We were kids under the care of our parents then we grew up and went off on our own. We all got older including our parents who at times now need our care. I think I would like to think that everything and everyone can go on without the inevitable growing older, but growing older is part of our migratory pattern. So enjoy everything you can for as long as you can each migratory pattern has a beauty all its own.

The Logging Operation

 

I am convinced that Mark is homesteading on our property. He had his buddy and distant relative, John take down 3 trees. You can see the before and after above. John has been working with a professional tree removal service for years and has started to venture out on his own. He is fearless, very knowledgeable and extremely safety conscious. It amazes me how he does it. For me standing on the deck is high enough. Yes, that is John near the top of the tree.

As you can see the 4-wheelers are out and pulling their weight around the yard. Attached to Mark’s is the cart we got him for Christmas. It has been very handy for cleaning up the yard this weekend. We burned today and yesterday. It felt good getting out after being couch potatoes all winter. Fresh air and Advil, can’t be beat.

I found the ruins of this nest while raking on the side of the house yesterday. I don’t know how I missed that one last summer.

Spring is Upon Us

 

We always know when spring is coming before it shows up on the calendar. My birthday is at the beginning of the month and Mark gives me the same present every year. Once September comes he stops shaving and cutting his hair so when my birthday rolls around he knows exactly what to get me. The before and after pics speak for themselves.

Mark is also responsible for the extra calories in the house. He went overboard with the chocolate this year, but somehow we all struggled through it. Greg brought me the beautiful flowers which continue to smell fragrant. Both he and Mark gave me scratch tickets which garnered me $55 in winnings. The other thing the two of them did was give me an IOU for the IPad when it comes out in April. I’ll keep you posted about that one.