January 2005

January 6th, 2005

Cold air and biting winds have, admittedly, made nature watching a challenge this month. But from behind the shelter of wind-stopping glass a world at rest reveals itself. Leafless trees stand quietly dormant, bird nests are empty, and even the insects are stopped – too cold for internal engines -- saving energy for warmer days.

From the artificial silence of my indoor observation post it is easy for the mind to drift. The long-angled light of winter brings warmth to streaming clouds at nightfall. They whisper of approaching moisture, and for my wandering mind, warm and content in the artificial silence of my indoor observation post, they evoke images of gentle waves washing onto a sandy beach. Imagined beaches trigger further mental travels south to visit feathered friends currently residing in tropical wintering grounds. I concentrate to conjure swallows flying low above Mexican clearings, hummingbirds feeding on nectar in Guatemala, warblers snatching insects from thickets in Panama...

Something breaks my concentration and I’m back in Oregon. With snow in the forecast, even for low elevations, temperate winter is my reality. Winter – cold, windy, and wet. Glorious all the same.