New Life

When our son bought property in the country last fall, the trees had already lost their leaves, so they all  had the grey, dead look of winter.  Some were obviously dead and had fallen along the banks of their pond (they made wonderful winter bonfires!), but we weren't sure how many were still alive or had been lost due to severe drought or age.

Now there is something to look forward to every morning as we drive to the farm on our "chicken chores" and are delighted at the daily change in the trees.  Some that we thought were surely dead have surprised us with a million little decorations, like ribbon bows, appearing overnight and covering the tree tops. Each tree has its own time-table. 

Many have been showing a hint of green for weeks and are now sporting small new leaves uncurling like little baby fists, while others are at different stages in their leaf budding.  The overall effect is one of many shades of green blending into a verdant sea of emerald.  It is one of my favorite things, especially when I see the lavender of a red-bud adding its pale beauty to nature's pastel pallette.

My husband has three bantum hens and a rooster in a wire pen with a nesting box of hay to collect their tiny eggs.  We noticed an egg in the nest today (they are often on the straw floor) and when we passed by the cage again, the smallest hen was sitting on the nest.  Probably just laying another egg, I thought.  But she remained on the nest the whole while we were at the farm.  Now I think she has the brooding instinct and was setting on the egg (possibly adding another to it!).  It would be unimaginably cute to see tiny baby chicks following her around!

The goose I thought was setting on a nest on a small island on the pond has disappeared.  False alarm, I guess.  She and the gander are both gone, probably to catch up with the rest of their flock heading north.  But a new possibility opened up today!  Someone wants to give us a couple of swans!  Swan Lake!  I can just see it now as they gracefully float on the scenic body of water.

Spring is such a season of renewal and new life.  I've been harboring a sweet secret that I learned a few weeks ago, but since they have announced it, I can say that we are going to be grandparents again!  Our youngest son and his wife are expecting a baby (boy, I hope) in November to add to their family of two beautiful little girls!  I am just as excited as I was when our first one was expected, 20 grandchildren ago!  We may be getting older, but there is nothing like a new baby in the family to make one feel young!