Spring, at last!

I was hoping that Spring had arrived on the first technical day of Spring. I heard (and saw) one lone Red-wing Blackbird in the treetops next to our driveway. We still had a bunch of snow and we were well into mud season; that most wonderful of times when the frozen ground thaws but has not yet dried out. It takes a while for mud season to abate. But here we are, freshly into April. The snow is about gone, the treetops are filled with a flock of squabbling Red-wing Blackbirds, the Robins have lazily returned as have additional small birds like Chickadees, Goldfinches (not yet gold) and Sparrows. I even heard a Killdeer yesterday. Maple syrup season is waning if not done as the temps during the night have been above freezing for a few days now. I've even seen a few flying insects and also pulled my first tick of the season off my shirt. Of course, it is still early and we could see snow yet again. A cruel yet not unheard of trick played by Mother Nature.

Over in our forest, the creek is full and happily bubbling under the new bridge. The small pond constructed a year ago last fall is full and the snow has melted off of the access road. I've been working lots less there this year as most of my time has been spent trying to hone our little company into a sustainable business. But, I have managed to clear back a bit more of the encroaching forest in the back field. The balsam fir poles are stacked in piles, ready to add more length to the corduroy road. Popple has been taken down, cut into four-foot lengths and stacked to dry for firewood. Branches have been piled together ready to be ground up by the bushhog and the smaller poles stacked for chipping.

We were hoping to get much of our field pine removed this winter but the sagging economy took most of the profit out of harvesting for pulp. The trees will wait till next winter. I will continue to prune and clear branches out of our harvestable pine stands as well as working on clearing a path that allows us to walk the perimeter of our land. Soon, the blackflies will hatch reminding me once again how bittersweet spring can be here. They too are a part of our landscape and a small concession we make to be able to live here.