When The Sun Finally Warms Us

Two crows cawing and gamboling from one branch at the maple's peak to another until they find one that sways but doesn't bend under both their weights.

The red capped house finches flitting around the feeder for hours before one alights and then another and then they gorge.

Pistils lengthen, forcing the petals to reveal each gradation of colour.

It's the hunger season and I've got extra feeders.

Scattering Seeds

It's still too cold to do anything but putter in the garden, so putter I did. Where the leaves looked matted, I gently stirred them. The ground underneath had shrunk and there was a tidy air pocket for sprouting. I needn't have worried about plants smothering. As well, stiffer sprouts like Solomon's Seal and the Spring bulbs were already pushing through the blanket of leafy mulch. Plants know what to do. Best to just leave them to it.

Nonetheless, it's not Spring if seeds aren't scattered, so I picked the fluffy tops off the Asters, cracked the pods on the Turtleheads and ended up with a handful of seeds. I pressed these into gaps between the bulbs. Now I sit back and hope for a success or two.