Pleasures of Spring
Well April, Easter and obviously spring are just around the corner. I spent all afternoon listening to the twitter of huge flock or birds in the tree outside my window. I think they were juncos but I'm not too sure because the tree was abit far from the the building and I'm on the fourth floor. Add to that, my limited eyesight, and I cannot be certain. But my ears were working fine and so was my memory. Those cheery birds did not thrill me as much as they could have because of the memories their chatter invoked. To me their chirping still spells frustration, pestilence and supreme annoyance.
When we lived on a farm in Manitoba, back in the 50's 60's and 70's, we considered those early flocks of juncos a most unwelcome harbinger of the spring season. We had a small "orchard" near the house with a few fruit trees that we cherished. Each spring the fruit trees would burst forth with masses of beautiful blossoms that presented spring as a magnificent and fragrant wonder world, along with a promise of luscious fruit in September.
Then the juncos would arrive - en masse. They would attack those blossoms with such voracious appetites that within a few hours there was not a petal or a stamen left on any of the trees. Of course, that took care of the bees and thereby the fruit for the year. Trying to chase or keep the birds away was an exercise in futility. They rarely left the area until they had stripped the trees bare. Seldom did we manage to salvage any fruit from those determined raiders unless the weatherman foiled their assault with an untimely spring. On those occasions, the blossom times would not coincide with the arrival of the flocks and the blossoms and pollination would be spared. Those times we always considered ourselves lucky.
I understand that after their long journey the birds are hungry, but can they at least leave something for us? Oh well, t'is the price of spring and all its pleasures have a price I guess. Happy Easter to all.
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