I usually take my first cup of coffee in the mornings into my plant room at the back of the house, which faces east and where I can watch the sun rise. There I sit for my morning prayers and meditation, and sometimes I just sit quietly and enjoy the peaceful green oasis in my little room. I’ve got 12 gigantic geraniums overwintering back there, a Wandering Jew plant my neighbor Joan gave me in the fall that looks like a striped Cousin It in the corner, and my Peace Lilies that are offspring of a giant Peace Lily I bought in 1994 when I worked at Martin Viette Nurseries. There’s my collection of African Violets too – purple for the most part, but one lone white one with double ruffled flower petals is blooming now, and what a treat. Don’t forget my bamboo trees in their big tubs or the tray of spider plants that enjoys a summer vacation on my front porch, either.
So there I sat in the ugly old brown chair that’s so comfy because of its wear and tear, drinking a really good cup of coffee and watching sunlight sparkle through the little prism hanging in the window, and I noticed a lot of movement on the back lawn. The eastern-facing windows overlook the back deck, the fenced in vegetable garden, and a lot of scraggly lawn growing over the septic system. The movement was near the septic area, so I got up out of my chair and walked to the windows to take a look.
I could hardly believe my eyes. There were robins – dozens of them – hopping about on the lawn. It’s a warm, windy day today, already in the high fifties, and the robins were the first I’ve seen all winter long.
I stopped counting when I got up to 20, but more arrived, and they seemed to cover the back field. They must have been finding insects or perhaps insect larvae to eat today. I felt my whole mood lift at their cheerful countenance. There’s nothing like seeing the first robin of spring to believe that warm weather is just around the corner!
I looked up the American Robin today online and learned that they normally migrate right behind the Canadian geese in late February, and seem to sense the spring thaw. If that is true, they are about a week early, which I hope and pray means an early spring. We’ve been hearing a lot of Canadian geese lately, and saw one enormous flock flying north. I am hopeful that the cheerful American Robin knows more than the ugly Groundhogs that predict the weather and that spring is here at last!
