Well, that about sums up any walking efforts I might have accomplished in February and March. After all those miles walked at the beginning of the season, all of a sudden the real Winter kicked in and put a major cramp in my style – it’s been nothing but fits and starts the past two months.  Even though Spring is on the horizon and officially debuts this coming Sunday at 12:30 a.m., colder weather is in the forecast, so it is as if we are sliding backward in time!

The walking goals are not the only thing that’s been scattered to the wind.

When I finally got out to walk this morning, there were twigs and branches littering nearly every lawn from my house and all the way down tree-filled Emmons Boulevard. I’m not talking about just small tree debris – there were several large branches that had fallen.  I suspect those howling 55 mph winds we had Wednesday and Thursday no doubt took down a few trees as well.  I watched a pair of E&J Tree Service trucks, loaded with all their gear, as they slowly headed along Ferris, enroute to their next tree-slaying endeavor.  As they chugged past me, an aroma of diesel fumes filled the air.

I had some extra time since my boss was out today, so I meandered down to the footbridge and the water was very dark, still and devoid of ducks and geese. I decided to take a short jaunt to Council Point Park and walk along the fringe of this nature nook and see what I’ve been missing since my last visit.  The trees are still bare and blah-looking, mere ghosts of their former beauty from last Fall and now awaiting the new, bright-green foliage which will come forth on the first warm Spring day.

Many dainty-looking, but actually hardy, flowers have suddenly sprung up. I saw hyacinths, snowdrops and crocuses blooming – they were bright spots in a still-drab landscape.  And every so often I saw rows of thin, not yet unfurled, daffodil leaves, which shoots reminded me of skinny green onions.  I even marveled at the many buds on the magnolia bushes already – hopefully, they don’t emerge and then the cold weather zaps them and spoils their beauty.

I saw several robins today on my journey. Each one was strutting around on someone’s lawn, eyes trained on the moist earth, ready to point a bright yellow beak between the grass blades and go for the “kill” – in fact, I watched one robin wrangling a worm right out of the ground, obviously triumphant in the morning’s meat-gathering efforts. As that night crawler squirmed in the robin’s open beak, I wondered if he’d take it home to share it with his mate – soon I had my answer.  Suddenly Robin Red Breast did a  big “slurp and burp” and that worm was history.

I’m happy to report that my contraption to thwart the robins has worked well, despite those wicked winds. Quite frankly, I don’t care how the lamp looks, as it is only temporary … well to June at least.  I get glaring looks from the robins whenever they spot me coming out of the house, so perhaps they have not yet found another cozy coach lamp to set up their nest and tend to their brood – may I suggest Zillow?