APRIL MORNING

First let me say that early morning any month of the year is not my natural habitat. But we had an 8:30 am appointment, and I had to be up. Notice I didn't say "awake". But the drive into the village where we had to be, was worth the pain of being up before time. Recent heavy rains have kept the little river that runs past our house, in flood. By mid summer, it is a tiny creek in many places that you could step over, or shallow enough to walk through, but at this time of the year, it is mighty. The banks turn into watermeadows and are often filled with ducks and geese. On a sunny day, this is lovely to see, and even on a rather snarly day like this one, it's something to enjoy as we drive along. We took a different way home, and the fields of cut-back corn stalks were filled with geese. A huge flock - many hundres of them, turned the sky black as they came to land in one field so they could rest for the day and glean the muddy corn rows of left-over corn. Something startled one group who had already settled, and there was a sudden glory of wings as 50 or so birds rose like a living fan out of the stubble. Fox? All through the cut corn stalks, if we looked closely, we could see long black necks bobbing along as the geese went walk-about. There is something about geese that amuses me, although I don't particularly like coming nose to beak with them. Long necks, short geese tempers!

FOREST MAGIC

Each Spring that we can manage it, we go to a Maple Sugar bush, not so much to get the sweet treats, (although that is not neglected!) but to walk in the woods and let the forest work it's magic on our souls. I seldom go into the woods from mid spring to mid autumn - (possible Serpent sightings), but from late October to mid April, I feel safe to wander and look. Once we are away from the main road, the magic of the forest takes over. I can hear the wind in the trees singing and sighing and whispering old-as-time secrets in my ears, and the air has a fresh tang that is a mix of pine needles, rotting leaves, damp earth, solitude and possibilities. It exhilarates and soothes all at the same time. We walk along the sometimes muddy, sometimes icy paths into the heart of the woods and are often silent, just observing, feeling, and talking to the spirit within. By the time we leave, we are refreshed and at peace again. If you want to catch up on my shorter gratitude comments since my last full blog, they can be found on my Facebook page.

BLUE

Sometimes, on a troubled day, looking up at the endless blue of the sky brings peace. It's a deep, infinite, calm blue that sooths the soul. On a day like today, when my post is short, and perhaps does not have an image, I think I will move my peaceful/happy comment to FACEBOOK. You should be able to find me easily by typing in my name and my website - www.heatheranderson-animalart.com.

Hope Springs . . . Spring Hopes

Hope springs eternal, and in the Spring, one pins one's hopes on a tiny seed. The other day, I planted a few left-over tomato seeds from last year, and I just noticed that several of them have come up. This is exciting! I don't do badly with flowers, but last year was the first time I grew an edible tomato, and now I have a chance to do it all over again. My Spring hopes are hitched to these tiny plants, and who knows, by August, I may have another one of these beauties.