Pam Webb

a writer's journey as a reader

Archive for the tag “springtime”

18 Mar 2025
16 Comments

Word Nerd: Springtime


With rowdy robins cheeruping all over the yard and bright green daffodils points bravely peeping up through the soil my vocabulary is attuned to springtime words.

nidificate: to build a nest–I’m seeing either last year’s nests populating the border hedge or there are some really early birds getting into that springtime feeling

Photo by Gundula Vogel on Pexels.com

kilig: a feeling of exhilaration or elation–that most excellent sense of “aah, yes” when the sun pops out and it is warm enough to sit outside and read and doze and doze and read.

wakerife: wakeful or unable to sleep–um, that would be related to DST…

psithurism: a whispering sound, as of wind among leaves–although lately it’s been more of a shout with wind gusts of 20 mph.

tootle: to move or proceed in a leisurely way–late afternoon walk around the block once the sun breaks through those cloudy skies.

sibylline: mysterious; cryptic–just how do the robins know when to return?

Photo by Arthur Brognoli on Pexels.com

bagatelle: something of little value or importance; a trifle–my attitude towards housework when deciding to clean or read a book outside.

inveterate: settled or confirmed in a habit, practice, feeling, or the like–it is indeed my habit to spend as much time as possible once the snow vacates the yard and the temperature is edging towards the upper end of the forties.

When it is considered spring for you? And what word best describes your thoughts on this welcome season?

Posted in Reflections and tagged , ,
28 Feb 2025
5 Comments

And then came along spring…


It’s not official, at least according to the calendar, yet I would say spring has arrived. I know the calendar says it starts March 20th but this year, in my neck of the woods, spring is here. How can I state this with such confidence? Easy. I spotted a robin yesterday and they are in full force today cheerupping and chuckling their arrival.

Plus, three days of rain pretty much eradicated the latent snowfall of February and the temperature is reaching towards 52 degrees. Last week I was breaking ice in the birdbath and stoking up the fire in the stove, today I was sitting outside without a coat enjoying my morning smoothie. Seasons are not subtle where I reside.

I didn’t get much done today because I spent as much time as possible parked in my Adirondack chair which I pulled out from storage yesterday. Once the temps hit the forties I’m outside. After gray skies, dumps of sun, then dumps of rain I feel it’s so very wrong not to be outside enjoying this gift of warm weather.

Yesterday when I heard that distinctive cheerup chuckle I zeroed in on locating the source. Sure enough there was the red-vested fellow boldly claiming the yard, running along searching for worms. Soon it became apparent he was not alone and a robin convention formed, all of them flying and bobbing about as if it was a reunion and they needed to get caught up on one another’s happenings.

So the robins have arrived, the temps are warmer, the sun is warm, and the skies are that blue that resonates so well with me. *Sigh*

I never truly trusted the groundhog’s prediction. I will go with a robin everytime when it comes to spring.

Photo by Mike Kit on Pexels.com
Posted in Reflections and tagged , , ,
14 Feb 2024
3 Comments

When the Robin Comes Bobbing Along


Some people go with this critter’s decision that spring is on the way.

image

I go with this one:

Image: Wikipedia

Old Punxsutawney Phil’s record of correct predictions is not impressive. According to the Stormfax Weather Almanac Phil prediction percentage is a mere 39%. He’s seen his shadow more often than not which means a longer winter, with stats showing 84%.

Here are his stats since 1887 when the tradition began:

  • Saw shadow (six more weeks of winter): 107
  • No shadow (early spring): 19
  • Partial shadow: 1
  • No record: 10
  • Did not appear: 1 

On the other hand, when I spot a robin, the first appearance goes on the calendar. The robin knows when to appear and is not going to have a calendar date decide when spring shows up. Robins have a savvy that doesn’t need a whooping crowd and cameras. Robins just know.

After weeks of gloomy gray skies, intermittent snow flurries, dribbly rain, and cold weather, we woke up to blue skies. Honest to goodness cerulean blue, no clouds, some chilly breezes, yet blue sky and sun makes for a great day. The birds and squirrels were frolicking in the yard, merrymaking about the birdfeeders and there in the corner of my eye I spied my first robin of the year. Calendar time!

Posted in Animals, Reflections, Seasons, Spring and tagged , ,
13 Mar 2016
5 Comments

POM: March’s Weather Madness


While March Madness is usually associated with basketball and even consumer blitzes, March is madness when it comes to weather. One day lovely enough to doze in the sun, the next is a frightful onslaught of wind and rain. My daffodils are cautiously lifting their green points from the earthen bed, unsure of what will greet them–freeze or warmth. This poem dropped in my box today and is perfect after a soggy wind-blown weekend.

March Evening by Amy Lowell

Blue through the window burns the twilight;

Heavy, through trees, blows the warm south wind.

Glistening, against the chill, gray sky light,

Wet, black branches are barred and entwined.

Sodden and spongy, the scarce-green grass plot

Dents into pools where a foot has been.

Puddles lie spilt in the road a mass, not

Of water, but steel, with its cold, hard sheen.

Faint fades the fire on the hearth, its embers

Scattering wide at a stronger gust.

Above, the old weathercock groans, but remembers

Creaking, to turn, in its centuried rust.

Dying, forlorn, in dreary sorrow,

Wrapping the mists round her withering form,

Day sinks down; and in darkness to-morrow

Travails to birth in the womb of the storm
How is spring arriving in your locale? 

 

Posted in American poets, Nature, poems, Reflections and tagged , , ,

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