Cabin Fever – The Robins Keep on Singing!

Cliff Ice on my walk today

“Cabin Fever” is not something I usually experience!  I love winter as long as I have access to a wood heat source to “warm my bones”.  Wood stove heat is the only heat that penetrates my body and truly warms me on cold winter days.  So why am I experiencing bouts of what I believe is “Cabin Fever”  My personal assessment indicates it is a reaction to the roller coaster winter we have had!  The extreme swings in temperature from above freezing to below freezing, the swings in snow cover, that while mild compared to friends and family south of me, never the less have frustrated me!  The lack of snow cover protection threatens to harm my gardens and plants.

I work to heighten my spirits by preparing to start the incubator and seeds. The peeping of newly hatched chicks and the seedlings breaking through the earth are both indicators of Spring and the new cycles of life.

I look at pictures from other seasons and know that I,  we,  will be cycling though them again.

The Pussy Willows are out and have been for weeks!  They brave the winter weather swings and remind me that Spring is near!

The snow recedes and reveals the dead grass that will soon turn green with new life.  The chickens find these snowless areas, lay on their sides and bask in the warmth of the sun. They preen and strut and execute the courtship that will result in fertile eggs for this years hatching of a new generation.

On my walk with Abigail today, the three mile walk that reaped these photos, I found myself thinking about a Spring 16 years ago when an April blizzard had the robins presenting me with a valuable life lesson.  Nature teaches us as she wraps us in her seasons.  I searched back to find an article I had written “The Robins Keep on Singing”  and I lift a segment from it to end this entry.

An entry that reminds me to keep on singing as I wait for Spring!

“I knew I would have to walk the last quarter mile of my mile long driveway due to the mud. I parked at the turnaround just outside my gates. It was snowing — a wet, soft, gentle snow that clung to every branch. I lingered there, listening to classical music, writing in my journal, savoring the beauty and the peacefulness of the night, the woods, the snow, the world around me, life.

Suddenly I thought: “I do not want to be in a building tonight. I want to stay out here.” That is exactly what I did. Leaning the seat back, I went to sleep.

I awoke the next morning to a truly spectacular, truly beautiful, truly peaceful, truly memorable, white, snow covered world — trees, snow, woods, birds, me —–ethereal beauty and peacefulness. As I greeted the new day, appreciating the connectedness of all, I realized that this spectacular, snow covered world, while lifting my spirits, was a severe hardship to all the robins who had returned the week before. Yet, despite the hardship, despite the difficulty,”the robins keep on singing”.

A powerful lesson delivered by the natural world at a point in my life when the power and trueness of that statement, “the robins keep on singing”, can help me keep a proper perspective on events in my life.

“The robins keep on singing” has been added to the list of phrases I use to help myself. Two of my other favorites from the list are: A line from a poem by the Isles of Shoals poetess Celia Thaxter, ” The sunrise never failed us yet” and a line by I know not who, “The earth turns toward the morning”.

The first quote reminds me that light always follows darkness, without fail, and the second quote keeps me aware that each day is a new beginning, that whatever happens there is always a new day dawning, an opportunity for a fresh start.

I offer these for you to use as you ponder the “why for alls” and the “where for alls” of your life.”

And so I rejoice in the mud, which follows the snow and precedes the green awakening of my, of our, world.  May this find you rejoicing in nature’s cycles too!