#NewThisDay Writing From My Photo Stream

Afternoon River View Reflection

Honeybees and wild bees depend heavily on such "weeds" as goldenrod, mustard, and dandelions for pollen that serves as the food for their young. By the precise and delicate timing that is nature's own, the emergence of one species of wild bee takes place on the very day of the opening of the willow blossoms. 

~Rachel Carson

At 5:30, window open to morning, I am woken by a steady hammering, what must be a woodpecker. Frank is already awake. It’s sunny and warm outside. I have planned for this to be a yard work morning; instead of walking, I am planting flowers, weeding beds, cleaning clutter from the front porch, the back porch. How is that it’s only now that I am carrying the snow shovels to the garage for storage? Another winter, thankfully, seems ages and ages away. In my gardens, I’m grateful to see how last summer and fall’s work of planting has paid off. My crab apple trees are blooming beautifully. My perennials are coming up. The sun is hot on my shoulders. I transplant some ferns from the woodsy area. Nearly every fern in my gardens has been transplanted by me, and all are thriving as they unfurl. In the afternoon, I attend, on Zoom, a playback theatre performance done by True Story Theatre on pollinators. It’s wonderful to explore the role of pollinators through playback. I tell a story about milkweed, discovering the wonderful, milky pods in spring, as a child, and blowing the fine seeds from the dry pods in the fall, blowing the feathery fluff across the field with glee. In the late afternoon, I stretch my legs and talk while I walk to the river with a dear friend I haven’t spoken to in months. The sky is blue with puffed clouds crowding the river reflection. We talk about mothering, the deep, challenging, beautiful experience of it. And our shared concern about how Covid-19 is stressing mothers with young children especially. I sit on the bench Frank and I have placed by the brook and notice that, earlier this day, he has transplanted some ferns next to the rocks. The spot has become even more beautiful and meditative. The girls want me to make the special chocolate cake for dessert. So, I go in and preheat the oven, and bake the treat they’ve requested. The window is open. I expect to wake early to the rousing clatter of the woodpeckers and the exuberant songs of the early birds.