Mud and a tirade

One nice day -- it's hit 50 deg F -- and every bit of snow that's not in a pile from a plow has melted -- in the space of 2 hours. This means mud and puddles, to be compounded by predicted rainfall all day tomorrow!

This afternoon I received an email asking if I had seen any red-winged black birds yet (no) and stating that other people had claimed it was weird to care about that, but surely I would understand. Of course I understand, and I think it's quite a shame that others find this to be odd. Phenology -- the oldest science -- humanity's means of survival, of finding food and necessities since the dawn of man -- is now weird. We are so disconnected with the cycles that sustain life on earth -- including our lives -- that it is considered abnormal to pay attention to them. We don't know what goes on on our own backyards... Let me tell you, I will take my place alongside Also Leopold and Sigurd Olson, alongside Thomas Jefferson, who kept meticulous notebooks of plant life cycle events at Monticello. If those of us who care when the first RWBB comes to town, the last snowfall occurrs, or the prairie colver blooms are strange, I will wear the label proudly!

ps -- Is my coming down with my third cold this year a sign of spring?