NEWS FROM THE HILLS
The wind howled around the house last night and set the wind chimes all a’jangle. Some may call it the March lion prowling about, but Grandma O’Dell had a better description. When she heard this type of wailing wind, she would say, “I hear a ‘Snow Booger’ howling around the house.”
The Snow Booger howled last night, and this morning we awakened to a skift of snow covering the ground. The ground was wet and it soon melted. Soon a snow shower came like Mother Goose shaking all her feather beds. It snowed furiously, covered the ground, and melted again. March is behaving in typical fashion.
The lawn is dotted with red-breasted robins, scouting for worms in the soft soil. They bob along jerkily, heads cocked to one side, until they spy an earthworm near the surface. With a jerk of the head, the unlucky worm is devoured. Although the snowflakes may fly, the cold wind blow, they are a note of cheer as they congregate.
Some robins are with us all winter, where they spend the season in cedar bogs and swamps, unnoticed by most of us. Robins begin their journey from the south in February, with small flocks of wild, wary males arriving in northern states in March. They begin singing in April with the return of the females.
With the arrival of March, we begin to look toward spring and all the joy it brings. We are beginning to feel winter-weary, and long for days of sunshine and warm weather. By the time spring arrives, we will welcome it with open arms.
God has set the seasons in order, and they work together perfectly. Winter is a resting time for the earth, when everything lies dormant under the covering of ice and snow. In Psalms 104-24 it reads, O Lord, how manifold are thy works! In wisdom thou hast made them all: the earth is full of thy riches.
In Job the Bible speaks of the treasures of the snow. My sister-in-law Alice says that means the spring mushrooms that are buried underneath, and a covering of snow produces an abundant crop. I hope she is right.
There are other treasures buried beneath the snow—the spring wildflowers and woodland plants that are biding their time. Some of the Easter flowers have grown impatient and thrust green spears through the ground. They are shivering in the blast of winter wind, but will revive and bloom when it gets warmer.
Other treasures under the snow are the woodland animals that are burrowed down in the ground, snug in their cozy nests. The proverbial groundhog sleeps on, waiting for the clarion call of spring and a banquet of tender greens. Swift-footed rabbits wait patiently in their nests, deep in the safety of brush piles and brier patches. Snow falls and covers their hiding places, and insulates their nests from the cold wind.
Snowflakes are flying wild again, and at dusk the ground is once more covered with an unbroken blanket of white. It softens the contours of buildings and vehicles, and covers the ugly scars of everyday living. Pine trees are liberally coated with fluffy snow, and the bare shrubs flaunt limbs hanging with cotton bolls.
We settle down in our warm homes, safe from the cold, and enjoy the last of the winter. There are wintertime pleasures yet to indulge. What can be more welcoming than a kettle of hot, fragrant soup on a cold winter day? As night falls, a good book and a steaming cup of tea, while snuggled down in an easy chair, spells contentment.
> Read More Information About Us
> More Articles Written By Our Staff
- Celebrating 20 Years Of Community At The Stand - April 12, 2024
- First Positive Case Of Chronic Wasting Disease In Indiana - April 12, 2024
- Southwest Allen County Schools Embark On Major Tree Plantings - April 12, 2024