"Spring Has Sprung"

Spring blew in on the wings of storms delivering 40 mile an hour gusts of wind. We had battened down the hatches in preparation. Visitors here at our cabin in the woods have also prepared for the blustering arrival of our change of season. The woods was evolving, bursting with new life. We were waiting for our first sign of the unwelcome chiggers. The bunkhouse remodeling was in the planning stages. Bill and Chris from,"Helping Hand," Bill business, were signed up to do the work. Lee, our pastor, mentor had been here to fix our solar gate and George, our singer, song writer painter was scheduled to come to touch up a paint job. Everything seemed to be tip top. It is best we don't always know the future.
Gypsy had buried all her bones in or near my "Angel Patch" flower garden which is inside her fence. She was patroling even when she looked like she was asleep on her pink sheepskin bed we had moved to the porch which is also inside her fenced area. The weather had warmed to the point where she could spend most days outside. She also stayed alert when she was resting inside the cabin on her favorite blanket tucked into her navy, blue, leather sofa. She is a fine and perhaps the only example of a well disciplined, unspoiled dog. The fact that she rules and totally controls me is completely insignificant. We were happy. We thought everything was going well. That was until an unexpected problem arrived from the woods.
One day Bill and Chris came to work on the bunkhouse. We decided to check out the only room, other than an outdoor kitchen, in another building, the smoke house. This was the only building on our five acres we had not yet investigated. We were pretty sure some critter was living there. Bill had a thing that looked like an antenna, about three feet long. Chris had one of my old, gray, metal crutches, and I had a broom. Armed we headed for the smokehouse nestled back in a quiet section of the woods. Bill opened one of the window shutters on the side of the enclosed room. The screen had been torn off. This should have been a clue. In the middle of this room was a raised mattress, covered with a blue tarp. Bill took the antenna and reached in the window and started to move the tarp. Something ran out and up the wall and out a hole in the ceiling. We saw a flash, so we were not sure what it was. I screamed and ran, Chris positioned his crutch to fend off whatever might appear and Bill jumped back a few steps. We carefully reconnoitered at the window. What was it? We held a pow-wow before proceeding on to our next step. Bill once again reached inside the window with the antenna. He slowly started to pull the tarp off of the bed. Nothing more moved. He then gingerly pulled off the sleeping bag that was covering the mattress. There was a hole in the middle of the mattress about a foot in diameter amd probably a foot deep. Inside were several baby squirrels. When exposed they did what mom had told them to do and tucked themselves in real deep. We watched, they did not move. Now, is this a perfect spot to start a new life? You bet! Bill covered the babies with the soft down sleeping bag and then the tarp. We quietly left the area laughing at our bravery. We hadn't yet thought that these little squirrels would eventually leave their nest. Time passed and we forgot about the baby squirrels. Then one day they left their nest. These little darling started a full frontal attack on Gypsy inside her fenced area. They ran all over her trees flaunting themselves often times just inches from her nose. They disreguarded her points. They sat on the bird feeder and ate in front of her. They sat in her bird bath and drank time after time. They ran across the top of her fence. They ran to the last tree before the fence, hit the ground and escaped her wrath finding just the right spot to go under. They ran on the roof of her cabin. She was sure she has tasted squirrel fur. However, she was focusing on the blood and gut scenario. They entertained her all day, leaving her exhausted. She now has new dreams as darkness sends us to bed here in the quiet cabin in our woods. As sleep overtakes her, her eyes and mouth begin to twitch. She sees baby squirrels everywhere, scolding her and flashing their tails at her. Humiliating her! She must catch one! There are so many now, not just the two we use to see. Surely one of these is for her? She holds her point waiting for one of them to make just the smallest mistake. She thinks she is a good girl and will be rewarded. She knows the God of dogs is on her side. Her dream ends with a squirrel clenched tightly in her mouth. She thinks she is lucky to have wish come true dreams. She slept late that morning. Such is life in your dreams here at the cabin in the woods.
A hummimgbird scout came the last week of March. He found the feeder I put up and also the one my eight year old grandson Kody put up. The hummingbird claimed them. Now the other hummingbirds have come and the battle for the claimed feeders has begun. They are beautiful to watch, never ceasing to amaze us. I will see them later when the morning glories are blooming outside the window where I write. They will come and say hello as they stop and look in the window. I am never sure how they are able to hover in one spot like they do, a bird helicopter.
The baby rabbits were playing near the thick cover by the edge of the woods. At fists I thought they were squirrels. However, the movement did not quite match that of a squirrel. So, I got the binoculars and checked. Sure enough two more Spring arrivals were out and about enjoying a beautiful day with Gypsy and me. They were wise enough to play a long way away from Gypsys fenced area. We had seen a very large cottontail at the feeding area near Gypys fence earlier in the week. Probably mom or pop to these baby rabbits. They have the biggest, blackest, round eyes I have ever seen, sort of like a shark. Rabbits can almost see their entire perimeter because their eyes are set on the sides of their heads. They have incredible patience to remain sitting and wait. Like Gypsy on a point. Like the mother squirrel who waited for the intruders to leave before returning to her nest of babies. Like a hummimgbird waiting for a poacher. Benjamin Franklin said it,"Patience is a virtue." We patiently wait.