A day belated simple blue bird…
The birds I have posted here so far with Gayla’s invitation have been calls for Spring. As of today, while Winter’s legacy does still linger in crusty countryside ditch snowbanks and the occasional flurry of odd styrofoam-like snow pellets, many signs of Spring are happily appearing.
The scents and smells are returning. Even the sometimes fetid first whiff of last year’s decomposing plant matter can be wonderful. Winter can often feel sterile, even dead, with natural smells locked in temporary cryonic freeze. In these early Spring days, with animals and plants reappearing to the delight of our senses, and the air so much easier to draw in to our lungs, we wait even for that first ozone-tinged rain storm. Smells tie us to life and memory so directly.
Make your way outside, breathe as deeply as you can and identify those smells that mean Spring to you.
— Davin
Birds portrayed in the “Drawing from Nature” series by Davin Risk are purely imaginary — any similarity to true species is entirely accidental.
Ah, I wish the smells of spring were emerging. We’re still under two feet of snow, with more in the forecast. But the bird is awfully pretty, and I can only hope we’ll be seeing more than sparrows and chickadees soon.
Wonderful description of spring smells. Love your observation that winter seems sterile because of the lack of smells – so true!
Spring is my favorite season. I worked outside all afternoon pulling weeds while I watched a sparrow building a nest in my bluebird house. lol. Oh well, at least it is not vacant.
Over the weekend, I planted my spring crops and herbs and I the smells of the damp soil and the whiff of my returning spearmint just made me all giddy. Plus, the robin (who was really, really fat)who kept me company as she would snatch up the worms when I’d get up and leave. Welcome Spring. Finally!