spring at last

sunrise:  5:41am

It's been an arduous winter, even for those of us who love winter here in Maine.  A few persistent patches of snow are clinging to the north side of trees, but spring has asserted itself pretty definitively now.

Although I've been outside at dawn once or twice in the last several months, I have been slacking off on blog entries.  Today, however, birdsong and early light tantalized me so insistently that I had to go outside and be in it.  Cedar waxwings, cardinals, song sparrows, crows, chickadees, robins, and the ubiquitous red-winged blackbirds produced the theme music to the scenes I'll share with you below.  Plus, I stood rapt by the haunting, echoey tunes of a hermit thrush back by the wooded hill behind our fields, though I couldn't find the singer himself.

I had my first spotting of our resident mallard pair this morning, just beyond this chair in the runoff stream that flows out of the pond.

Kate - the all-season retriever

Guster enjoying a vigorous roll on the grass, after 6 months of snow cover.

Sunlight tips the treetops before I can see the sun itself...

Here it comes!

May meander, 4:45am

sunrise - 4:55am

Since my bedroom window faces north, the sun's morning light becomes more and more prominent on my pillow as it moves into its summertime position.  I've been too comfortable to venture out into the early dawn risings of May, but most mornings I vicariously experience that wonderful time of early light and first bird song through glass.  I take in the sensory experience of the world waking up, then I happily close my eyes again.

It should have been no surprise, that rush of witnessed grandeur that filled me out there at 4:45 this morning, but there it was, like nothing else.  Seeing it out the window and standing in the outdoor air are nothing like each other.  Perhaps I'll start getting out there more often...but it's hard to say.  The sun won't be up later than 5am until after July 10th.

Our Pakistani daughter leaves for home three weeks from today, after her year in Maine with us.  She is off on an all day whitewater rafting trip today with the high school seniors, which was what got me up so early.  A couple of days ago, almost 21-year-old T and I went with her to Canobie Lake Park in New Hampshire. Q had never been on a roller coaster - now she has been on several, plus a couple of water rides with big splashes.  Q loved the water rides.  We'll see how she feels about the real thing after today's adventure.

I attended the funeral of a friend of mine yesterday.  Cancer.  That stupid disease pops up everywhere, and I've had way too much of it too close to home lately.  That may be another reason why I've been disinclined to write.  Still, the family of my deceased friend articulated their feelings for their father with such sweet sorrow and inspired remembrance that I was left feeling uplifted and hopeful.  I suppose that's what a good funeral ought to do.

Here is a photo meander through today's sunrise, including some avian friends.  I startled a pair of ducks and caught them taking off, and was serenaded by the ubiquitous blackbirds.

There are also some backyard shots from about a week ago when the trees were still in high bloom.  My back field is an exquisite refuge and delight.  Its flower display this spring has been especially exuberant, and I couldn't resist including some shots of my very favorite bluets.

 blackbird, moon