Tuesday, March 21, 2006, 19:44
When the Red-Red Robin Comes Bob-Bob-Bobbin' Along. . .
"Look at all the robins!" Randy exclaimed as we took the dogs for a walk along the road running west of our house Monday evening.
Nearly two weeks ago, on the Saturday before the big snowstorm on Monday, March 13, we heard robins singing.
March 11 is too early for robins around here. They usually do not return to this part of Wisconsin until the end of March.
After that first day when the robins were singing, and after the snowstorm two days later, I hadn't heard a peep out of them until Sunday evening, when I heard one twittering as I took hay out to Kajun's pasture. Which made wonder what had become of the robins, where were they keeping themselves and what were they finding to eat?
You can imagine my surprise when Randy and I took the dogs for a walk Monday evening and saw an entire flock of robins on the bank leading up to our hayfield and also in the neighbor's red pines right next door.
An entire flock of mostly silent robins. Only the occasional twitter out of them, but not a single song. And it was at the time of night when they like to sing, too, dusk -- right around sunset.
At first, we noticed only a few of them on the bank below our hayfield (the hayfield sits above the road).
"They must be finding something to eat on that southern exposure where all of the snow has melted," I said.
"I'm sure they are finding something to eat, seeds maybe," Randy replied.
We walked a few steps more, and of course, with the dogs trotting along and Randy and I walking and talking, we startled the robins.
They flew up and forward, and when they did, they startled more of their companions, causing them to fly up and forward and into the pine trees.
I didn't count them, but there were -- literally -- dozens of robins. And all quiet, with only the occasional twitter.
"It is must be too cold for them to sing," I said. "They must like warmer weather to really feel like singing."
"Maybe so," Randy said.
Well, at least the mystery is solved of what became of the robins. They're here -- but they're keeping quiet for the time being.
Sophie -- Sophie is definitely feeling better today. This morning she was tearing around the house, playing with a wad of paper that Randy had crumpled into a ball and thrown on the floor for her. She batted the paper ball all around the house, and then she picked it up and carried it around -- so proud of herself for subduing that nasty piece of paper! Also, I had kind of a hard time getting the antibiotic into Sophie this morning. She twisted. She turned. She protested. She muttered. She sputtered. But in the end, I managed to squirt the antibiotic down her throat. Well, most of it. Except for a few drops.
LeAnn R. Ralph
Monday, March 20, 2006, 21:16
Spring Has Arrived. . .
Spring is here! That's what the calendar says, anyway.
Of course, it doesn't look much like spring. Most of the 17 inches of snow that fell last week is on the ground yet, although it has, to be honest, settled quite a bit.
And it doesn't feel much like spring, either, with a temperature in the mid-thirties and a stiff wind out of the north/northwest today.
Still, I can tell that the sun is much stronger now than it was in January. While most of the 17 inches of snow remains on the ground yet, the sun has melted the snow on the dirt road north of our house -- and turned it into a muddy mess again, too, I might add. And the snow is beginning to melt around the barn again, and in Isabelle's pasture -- creating another muddy mess.
But isn't that what early spring is all about? Soupy messes and mud and melting snow? And stronger sunshine? And days that feel like winter? And other days that feel like spring?
The robins and bluebirds and meadowlarks returned a week ago last Saturday before we got the "big blizzard." I haven't heard a peep out of them since, so I was happy to hear one of the robins Sunday evening while I was taking hay out for Kajun. No bluebirds or meadowlarks yet. And no kildeer. And no geese flying overhead. And the juncoes are still up around the yard. And I haven't heard any Sandhill cranes flying overhead yet, either. But I will. It's only a matter of a little time now!
Sophie -- Sophie continues to feel better and better after her spay surgery last week and then developing pneumonia afterwards.
Monday morning I took one of my other kitties to the vet clinic for her regular annual vaccinations, and the first thing the vet tech said when I walked in the door was, "how is that little Sophie cat doing?" She was glad to hear Sophie was feeling better.
Later on, the vet who had done the surgery told me that the anesthetic was very hard on Sophie (tell me something I don't know; I already knew that the anesthetic was hard on Sophie!) and that it took her much longer than normal to come out of it. She said it was because Sophie is so tiny. Yes, our little Sophie is tiny. And I think she's never going to be a very big cat. But what she lacks in size, she more than makes up for in personality! All I can say is, I hope Sophie never has to go under anesthetic again.
As for Sophie herself, I think she was convinced that she was never going to see her family ever again. She is still *so happy* to be home, and she is still very much interested in cuddling up with her big kitty pals and takes turns going from one to another. And she doesn't seem to mind if I pet her a little bit. And she doesn't even appear to hold much of a grudge about the medicine. Which all makes me wonder if the surgery and being away from home and getting so sick turned out to be a "life altering" experience for our little Sophie.
LeAnn R. Ralph