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Whitehurst Diaries: The Firsts of Spring By Sharon Whitehurst From my desk I have a view through the south window of the hummingbird feeder. My journal for 2022 notes the arrival of the first hummer on April 13th. I brewed a batch of nectar and hung the feeder on April 6th this year having observed the posted hummingbird migration charts and wanting to be sure any early birds were given a welcome. It was 40 degrees F. at 7:30 A.M. on Monday morning when the familiar shape of a hummer zooming in for breakfast caught my eye. How quickly I have resumed the habit of glancing out the window, pausing for a moment to watch if a bird is at the feeder. Wednesday evening the silhouette of a male hummer hovered against the pale pink and saffron backdrop of the twilight sky. I stepped quietly onto the screened porch, moved to within a few feet of the hanging feeder. A second bird flashed across the flight path of the one leaving the feeder confirming there are now two males in residence waiting for the ladies to arrive. The month of April brings new delights nearly every day. Do leaves really grow overnight? The low-hanging branch of the tree which in other summers has provided a favorite hummingbird perch is not yet in full leaf, but next to it a maple offers shelter from rain or wind, a possible nesting site. I anticipate the arrival of the female birds late this week. My heirloom clematis 'Candida' always rushes to break dormancy, must always be swaddled in old sheets to endure the inevitable frosty nights of March. From the front porch on April 11th the first bloom was a gleam of creamy white against dew-shimmered leaves; each day another of the plump oval buds has unfolded. I discovered the parent vine at our first Kentucky home previously owned by Haskell Rogers. A root clump has moved with me, now joined by other clematis vines trailing along the wonky fence Jim hastily stuck in place during my earliest landscaping efforts here. I marvel each season at the coloring of Candida's blooms, the delicate stripes of pale green against creamy white, deep rose pink of thread-like stamens. My lilacs were a Mother's Day gift from Howard and Dawn three years ago; this is their second season to bloom, a good month earlier than could be expected in my native Vermont. The scent drifts on the lightest current of air, hauntingly nostalgic. Several ancient lilacs grew, twisted and stunted, in the remnants of a tumbled stone wall at the lower edge of Grampa Mac's garden. Survivors of harsh New England winters, lilacs mark the grass-covered foundations of many a home long abandoned and forgotten, stand sentinel in old churchyards and burying grounds. Each time I walk past the bushes I stop to bury my nose in the sprays of bloom. During these beautiful sunny days I've been pruning winter-damaged roses, raking dead leaves and grass away from the peonies, yanking up random handfuls of weeds; as I work -always with the help of Willis--I'm absorbing the grim truth that invasive ground covering weeds, wild onions, purple violets, fleabane, creeping buttercup, are so well entrenched that I can never eradicate them. Coneflower seedlings have emerged in their hundreds, clumps of self-sown poppies have burst through amongst the New England asters and bee balm. There will undoubtedly be a few frosty nights, days of chilly rain when we will again kindle a fire in the wood stove. We work through the caprices of weather that 'spring' is bound to present, rejoicing in the renewal that unfolds daily, balm to quiet the clash and clamor of unrest and uncertainty that is too much with us. This story was posted on 2023-04-19 17:01:47
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More articles from topic Sharon Whitehurst - Whitehurst Diaries:
Whitehurst Diaries: Working With Willis the Cat Aunt Julia's Pudding Story Mid-January: A Journal of (Mostly) Grey Days Whitehurst Diaries: Sojourners The Whitehurst Diaries: Raccoon Saga The Whitehurst Diaries: The Man in the Garden The Whitehurst Diaries: Willis-The-Cat, Then and Now The Whitehurst Diaries: Whir, Whiz, Zoom! Sharon Whitehurst: A Morning Without Rain Letter: expanding cyber acquaintance with Blue the Cat View even more articles in topic Sharon Whitehurst - Whitehurst Diaries |
 
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