An Anniversary Walk

Because this is Jerry and Carol's 58th wedding anniversary, we wanted to dedicate a morning walk to them.

Since this morning is overcast and humid, fixin' to rain, all the calls, songs, and other sounds of the birds are amplified and kept close to the ground. The air was thick with promises of loyalty and love. Four white-breasted nuthatches traveled as a chattering group through the tops of bare trees on the hill behind the barn. The woodcock waits until he's sure to cause a heart-attack before putting up. Sandhill cranes call out from a field a mile or more away. These birds' calls make up the usual complement: wood ducks, Canada geese, song sparrows, crows, cardinals, killdeers, turkeys, flickers, pileated and red-bellied woodpeckers, meadowlarks, chickadees, bluejays. Mixed in subtly also is the muffled thrumming of the male ruffed grouse and the zeee of the woodcock. A deer snorts and stamps, and three silent great blue herons glide overhead.

We've included a photo of the edge of the marsh in its nearly dormant state so we can mark the new growth that's already beginning.