"One swallow does not make a summer, but one skein of geese, cleaving the murk of a March thaw, is the spring.from A Sand County Almanac by Aldo Leopold,
"A cardinal, whistling spring to a thaw but later finding himself mistaken, can retrieve his error by resuming his winter silence. A chipmunk, emerging for a sunbath but finding a blizzard, has only to go back to bed. But a migrating goose, staking two hundred miles of black night on the chance of finding a hole in the lake, has no easy chance for retreat. His arrival carries the conviction of a prophet who has burned his bridges."
There's a bird sanctuary nearby (Jack Miner's)and for the last couple of weeks have seen or heard a skein or two heading north. I'll trust their instinct and believe it's an early spring.
ReplyDeleteThe small lake where we live is a stop-over for migratory geese, but we also have a small band of year-around residents.
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