SPRING ALCHEMY

GREY TO GOLD

A year ago, this past weekend was our last “normal” time. The promise of an approaching spring soon melted into a grotesque twisting of expectations. The COVID pandemic hit the world HARD and we didn’t see it coming. With the lengthening of days came the fear of shortened lives caused by this troubling virus that has afflicted everyone. A year ago, this past weekend, we were piling in to the newest brewpub in the neighborhood, Troubles End. Who knew it was just the beginning of our troubles? Soon thereafter and ever since we’ve been hiding in our caves and avoiding society. The news filled our eyes and fed our fears with daily death counts and hope was ridiculed and locked away in some basement. 

It’s been a tough, sad year.

Goldfinch in winter

And, yet, spring approaches anew and again we here at VFH Central are filled with hope. There are now three vaccination medicines for this deadly pandemic. It may be safe to emerge from the basement? Perhaps it is safe to believe in the alchemy of spring, where the steel white cold transforms into the vibrant happy colors of spring.

HOPE

What this pandemic has done for us is to help us appreciate our surroundings and to notice the subtle nuances of our lives. Already crocus is blooming and our tulips in the front yard are beginning to sprout. Too many years we’ve pounded out the door to jobs that never allowed us the leisure time to see our world. So, for this your humble homebound scribe is grateful. Last year with the uncertainty of the pandemic pressing on us we were too scatterbrained to notice, but now we finally have hope for our future.  

Alchemy at work

Readers of this wandering travel blog know we have gained solace in feeding our birds. We’ve enjoyed several snowstorms this winter and we’ve delighted in seeing the birds flock to our perches, their colors still seasonally muted. Still, it’s fairly easy to tell the males and females, but now as spring approaches the hues of the gold and purple finches are more pronounced each day. The soft dusty colors of the Bluebirds with their orange chests become more vibrant each time they flock to our feeders.

One feeder is just outside our kitchen window above the sink and most of the birds don’t mind us ogling them, although there is one particularly skittish Red-bellied Woodpecker that despite his massive size flits off quickly each time we near the window. His colors are striking in the morning sun. 

Even the dour colored sparrows are a marvel so up close, although, it is the transformation of the Goldfinches turning from their winter colors to the brilliant yellow of spring and summer that really gets us going! It is the alchemy of spring turning muted colors into gold, fear into hope.

Summer colors

Remember, all who wander are not lost.

Love, always

Janet and greg

©2021 by Greg Dunaj