Pre-Spring

It is snowing, again.  This is the time of year where it seems like you can reach spring if you stretch your arms out really far--and then you find that your fingers are just a little too short.  It is the short season of frustration; pre-spring.

The signs of spring are there--teasing us--telling us that it should be spring.  The horses are shedding; a lot. Ranger gets a thick, yak-like coat every winter.  He has been shedding since January. It is as if he prepares for winter, but by January, he realizes we don’t live in the Arctic.  Ellen and I have been working hard brushing him. HIs coat is now about the same as the other horses, and they are starting to seriously shed, too.  Can spring be far away?

Last week, we had one warm, rainy day.  We actually heard a few spring peepers (little singing frogs), but they soon realized their mistake and retreated back into the mud.  The red winged blackbirds are back, singing in the swamps. Today, when I was walking Maggie, I heard and saw a pair of Kildeer, overhead.

Kildeer are really pretty, little birds.  They love to run along the creek going “Beep, beep, beep.”  They nest on the ground. If you are close to their nest, one of them will walk in front of you; pretending to be hurt and unable to fly.  It will even flop around a little for effect. If you follow it, it will lead you away from the nest. If you get to close, it will fly away.

Once the babies get big enough to leave the nest, they will follow the parents along the creek goiong, “Beep, beep, beep.”  I just call them the Beep-Beep -Beep Birds.

I saw my first butterfly a  couple days ago. It looked like an American Copper, which is strange.  Usually the first butterfly I see is a Red Admiral.

And still it snows...

Not that it matters a whole lot, right now. They are repairing the hill trail, and it is closed.  I think it may be at least another week. We are just riding around the around the property until we get bored.