Signs Of Spring

For the past few months our neighbourhood in the city has been quiet. Gently falling snow has muffled the sounds of cars, and pedestrians walking their dogs have hurried quietly along, stopping only briefly to stoop and scoop. Our back yard has been silent too. The chatty squirrels have been hibernating and birds have found food elsewhere. Snow has built in little hills, covering our gardens and shrubs, muting any sounds of rustling leaves.

Until recently! Last week I looked out the front door and there was a policeman on his horse clomping down our winding neighbourhood street. I hurried outside with my phone and he stopped, realizing that he was about to be in a Kodak moment. I took advantage and we exchanged small talk about the beautiful sunny day. Spring was on the way!

Next we saw cardinals, two bright red males, taking turns testing out our bird bath. It still had a thin sheen of ice on top and they decided to postpone their baths. Surely, they pondered, they didn’t smell that bad! And there were no females around, anyway. Not yet.

Then, a few days ago, my husband Peter saw a red fox trotting along, a bounce in his step. He didn’t say where he was going, but we guessed he had love on his mind. The days were getting longer and he was getting friskier. With no access to the internet, he was relying on his own courting methods.

But the best day so far was yesterday. As I drove into the driveway from a trip to the grocery store, Peter called to me from the front door. “Put your groceries down, grab your phone, and sneak into the sun room.” There in our city back yard were three deer. Yes THREE! We hadn’t ever had that many all at once in our country home of half an acre. These deer seemed quite comfortable, wandering around, smelling, scrounging, and surveying. Then they discovered something delicious under our pine tree at the back.

While they were occupied, Peter snuck out and threw some carrots and lettuce near the back door. Maybe he could entice them to come closer for a better photo opportunity. We waited. One came out from behind the pine tree and walked towards us. As she passed the shed window boxes, she got distracted by the withered geranium leaves and started nibbling. Peter was desperate to rush out and tell her about the virtues of the Sunnyland Produce he had offered.

After a while, the treasures of our back yard had been fully explored and the three deer found comfortable places to settle down for their afternoon naps. They stayed in our back yard, sleeping and wandering, until after it was dark and we had to abandon our look-out spots. This morning they are gone; and Peter is thinking about where to find hay and a salt lick, just in case they come back…

This week I had been planning to write about a blockbuster piece of theatre we saw recently. But when nature calls, you have to follow!

Sue