Foretaste of Spring

Today, on the way to Mass, we counted a flock of ten turkey hens in the cornfield down the road from us. Then we saw several flocks of Canada geese in meltwater "ponds" in the fields we passed, even a flock sleeping on top of the ice remaining on a farm pond. Finally, we noticed coyotes in another field. A coyote was lying down with a goose carcass as another coyote stood over them. They were right next to a pool of meltwater with geese in it. And a few hundred feet from them was another coyote menacing a larger flock of Canada geese in another giant puddle. Those geese must have been too tired to care! They seemed unruffled and going about their business without alarm. I imagine that there were more coyotes than the three we saw, as they usually hunt in "family packs" of about six, but we saw only those three. They blend in remarkably well when crouching in corn stubble! 

Yesterday it was unseasonably warm… in the low fifties! As the woodpeckers drummed, the shrilly trilling sandhill cranes flew overhead intermittently in wavering lines, and the sun filtered through the tree trunks, we did some outdoor chores, like seeding grass, tidying up the accumulating garage mess, and taking down Christmas lights. We also took advantage of my husband's presence, the soggy conditions, and the relative warmth to burn a giant brush pile, the christmas tree, and some of the millions of sticks and branches that littered the yard from the various storms of recent history. My husband had the chainsaw out, tending to the large branches, hauling them to the fire in the pickup truck. I carried the babe in the backpack carrier for a couple of hours, and the other kids pitched in a bit, but there are still many sticks and branches left to deal with. We made a "dent" though, and cleared the largest daffodil area of heavy limbs so that they can continue to grow unimpeded. (The early varieties are already about an inch above ground!) 

It was so balmy, that when we took a break for lunch, we ate at the soggy picnic table that had snow on it only the day before. My husband even cooked on the grill for us. It was a far cry from his grilling adventure of the week before! It was a bit chilly to eat in the shade of the house on a damp, wooden picnic table, but my oldest boy actually spent much of the afternoon reading O'Henry in the hammock yesterday. We were motivated to be outside.

The jugs for sap collection weathered the crazy thunderstorms and wind we had, although a couple of them blew off their hooks, so we reseated them. I also started construction on a brick rocket/chimney stove for the first step of boiling off the sap. Crouching with the heavy kid on my back had its time limits, and the younger children were eagerly "helping". (The promise of syrup is motivating!) So the construction was not as tight as it needs to be. I have the plan roughed out and bricks set aside though, so it shouldn't take too long to construct when needed. 

It was in the teens last night and the low thirties today. We got a dusting of snow overnight and it snowed for about two hours this morning. The sap has not run since we tapped Wednesday. First it didn't get cold enough at night, and today it didn't get warm enough. I'm still hopeful that there'll be a good sap run soon. After all, spring is on it's way!