The times, they are a-changin'

March came in like a lamb this year, with highs just below the freezing mark. By now it has even warmed up a few more degrees, and the snow has been melting right in front of our eyes. 

When I took this picture tonight around 6:30 pm I saw a bird silhouetted against the brilliant sky, smaller than a crow, bigger than a chickadee, its flight pattern so familiar yet not seen for the last few months. Could this be true? Could it really have been a starling? It landed right on top of one of the big spruce trees, wings drooping a little, head lifted high. It must be! A moment later two more flew by and chose the tips of the adjacent trees as landing places, followed by yet two others who came to roost on the power line. This is very early! While the starlings often arrive in March they mostly wait until the middle of the month or even a bit later. 

I waited for a while, but they didn't start their evening song. Maybe they had just arrived - and who wants to sing when he's in need of rest? Suddenly spring seems possible again: the first pussywillows gleaming white on reddish branches, the spring smell of cows coming from the neighbour's yard across the road, and now this. 

Once again I ask myself if it wouldn't be just fine to stay home now and watch the snow disappear. Instead, however, we will fly south for a short while. We have come to appreciate the Arizona landscape during our spring visits in the last couple of years. This time, however, we plan to go west from Phoenix and explore one or two of the California National Parks. We hope to spend a few days in Death Valley to go hiking, and if all goes well I should report from there in my travel blog:


Every Day Is a Journey


What will we find there? And what will await us when we come home in about two weeks? 

One thing is for certain: the sun will set almost an hour and a half later, since tonight we are changing to Daylight Savings Time. What won't change is the beautiful artwork it creates in the evening sky, painting the vapour trails of airplanes passing overhead in ever-changing colours.