I can think of nothing better than living the farm life, and it becomes especially clear during the month of May. This morning’s walk was filled with sunshine and blue skies, with the countryside blooming both under foot and over head.
The birds were singing with such enthusiasm, it was impossible not to whistle along. This year, I have spotted the most breathtakingly beautiful male eastern blue bird here on our farm. I have seen him from my window as I write my column, and I have watched him several times at dusk, flying from one large tree to a post near a blue bird box on the west side of the lawn, singing his little heart out.
I am hoping he has plans to stay around and raise a few families. I have seen many blue birds in the last decade or so, and I have to say this is the most spectacular one I’ve been fortunate enough to watch.
May flowers
April showers have most definitely brought May flowers, as my tulips and daffodils showed up with brilliant color. The dandelion crop seems amazingly abundant, as well. Have you noticed that in your part of the world, too?
The sunshine was glorious for a few days in late April, and the temperature climbed into the 70s, bringing spring on in full tilt. All of the trees began blossoming, bees began buzzing and I hoped that spring was here to stay.
But, the rumors of another cold snap with snow showers kept buzzing, too. With all of my perennials poking up through the dirt, the weather forecast carried frost warnings two or three days in a row. So, we headed off to the barn in search of spare buckets to cover the larger hosta and colorful perennials in the flower gardens I’ve worked so hard to cultivate since we moved here.
The large expanse of hay field, becoming so green and lush, could handle a touch of frost, thankfully. Because the frost did come to this farm, the furnace has kept right on running through the night and early morning hours. The winter sweaters and sweatshirts are not quite ready to be packed away.
After the lawn was mowed for the first time, my dogs couldn’t wait to run through the newly shorn grass. Cort’s white Peke, Spanky, came running back looking somewhat like a green alien creature, happy as a clam!
Lucky stars
The tractors moving across wide open fields always make me glad to be living in the middle of farming country. Now, more than ever, we all should be counting our lucky stars that there are farmers willing to put in the long hours to produce food to keep the circle of agriculture complete and the farm ground on which to work.
My all-time favorite bumper sticker is still the one that reads, “If you complain about farmers, don’t talk with your mouth full.”
As stores begin to carry notices of limits on purchases of such things as flour and rice, I have to wonder if America is finally beginning to wake up to the realization that farmers do, indeed, feed the world. They are deserving of our appreciation.
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