Signs of spring

sniffing out roadkill

with slow erratic circles

thank you, bald beauties

Notes: For many people, a first sign of spring might be seeing a Robin*, or perhaps watching crocuses push up through the cold earth. For others, it might be the flow of maple sap, or perhaps just the equinox itself, when the melt really kicks in and March sun baths us in warmth and the day length gets more noticeable. For me, one of my favourite signs of spring is the return of the turkey vultures. Always around this time of year we see these magnificent birds reappear (they are migratory in my part of the world). We see them slowly circling overhead, gradually moving northwards. This, as I have learned, is called a Kettle of Vultures.

Our town seems to be directly on one of the (slow) migratory paths of vultures, and we sometimes see up to 20 or more birds overhead at one time. It always seems to be on one of those first warmer days in March, and always around the equinox. This year was no different, and it was last week we got the pleasure of their company again. They actually hang out for a while in a wee patch of forest a few blocks from our house, and we also know that the more contiguous forests 5 or so kilometers out of town is a favourite location.

I did a search through some old notes recently and discovered the Haiku, written above, from 2016! It was timely since I had the turkey vulture art already done but hadn’t yet written the accompanying Haiku. Upon reflection, it was around 2016 that I started writing more nature-themed Haiku and the seeds of the ideas for this blog were established. Now, so many years later, it is happening.

There are perhaps a few lessons to draw from this: first, give things time. Ideas jotted down on pieces of paper, or formed in the recesses of your mind, or typed into a note on your phone, sometime come to fruition, even if it takes years. Second, it is acceptable to worthwhile having lots of crazy/different ideas all the time (something I suffer from!) – because the good ones come back again and again and stick. I am convinced that time can be a filter that helps sort out which ideas might have staying power. Third, document, document, document! Sometimes do you find some gems that your former self might have created. If you didn’t sketch them, or write them down somewhere safe (and searchable) they just might get lost.

* many robins are actually around all winter here in the Montreal area, but they still seem to be sign of spring for many. I’ll also mention that my post is, of course, biased by my geography – mid-March here always means snow on the ground still, frosty/freezing nights, but daytime that starts to get above freezing. It’s a glorious time for Canadians!