A Deep River Year - 2017

Last weekend was damp and cold. A cool, wet Spring has had its virtures. The flowering trees have been luxurious in their blossoming. The lilacs have scented the air for weeks, and the tulips and daffodils have lingered well past their usual finale. But now, suddenly, it is warm, and the earth beckons for a summer planting. Yesterday was hot, a day for moving slowly. But we spent the day digging deep holes and planting shrubs and flowers ...as a warm sun beat down upon our backs. 
 

At the end of the day we rested in our comfortable chairs out in the back yard as a late afternoon breeze stirred the newly green leaves at the edge of the woods. And this is a pleasure: to sit in a tender, growing place surrounded by the chatter of birds and the whisper of wind. One moment a hummingbird whizzes its way to a feeder, and a few seconds later a downy woodpecker comes to the same place to drink. A crow drops into the birdbath while squawking a "hello," and house sparrows flutter in the fresh turned earth of the garden as they give themselves a dust bath. A family of baby birds yammer from a birdhouse on the side of the barn, waiting for mama to return with sustenance. And then the orioles drop in, glorious in orange and black. Their arrival each May always feels like a surprise and an elusive gift. They come to peck at the oranges arrangedat the edge of the garden just for them, although the canny catbird seems to eat its fill as well. We would have such beauty with us forever, if they would stay. But like sweet Spring itself, these visitors are all the more precious for their brief, enchanting visit.


 May Orioles


A pair of orioles appear
bright as morning light,
their flaming feathers
a Springtime fire.
They are guests at our offered feast:
a juicy orange sliced in two
and placed on poles
at our garden's corner.
They chatter a greeting,
perhaps a grateful prayer
in the tongue of birds,
then eat voraciously
before swooping and soaring
high into a canopy of leaves.
They appear suddenly,
out of nowhere,
their presence a gift
which lasts for just a little while,
before they are gone.
This, like all blessings,
is a sign of love's presence,
the miracle always around us,
coming and going as a joy,
tender, glorious, orange,
feathered and fleeting,
calling us to watch, watch,
and be glad.
--Timothy Haut, May 21, 2017