A Bluebird Day

It's a term skiers use a lot. It means after snow storms and nasty weather in general the skies have cleared and perfect skiing conditions exist. Well after a cold wet spring the weather has been generally pleasant the last few weeks.... till late Monday afternoon. Then a storm front brought rain and heavy winds which knocked down trees all over town. Having just returned from Colorado late Sunday night I found the gardens buried in weeds. The rain and wind pretty much eliminated the prospect of weed removal till the skies finally cleared late afternoon on Tuesday. It was a "bluebird afternoon."

As the sun slowly settled in the West the yard took on a warm golden glow. Weeds began to fly as they pulled easily after the rains. The spinach and lettuce crops were at a peak. Surely the rain and cool spring had helped a lot. It was then that the singing of a male cardinal, high above the yard in a mighty oak tree, refocused my attention. The vibrant red in the mellow light seemed to radiate his joy. Another cardinal responded in the distance and I searched for this singer as well. It was then that I saw the bluebirds perched on the house that I had fixed along the property line next to the cornfield early last spring.

I think I was bored when I bought it. Being dragged along on the "hundred mile" garage sale in the small towns by the Mississippi is not my idea of how to spend a fruitful Saturday. It was mid-afternoon before I saw the table of newly minted birdhouses. I had always believed that putting up bluebird houses next to an atrazine drenched ethanol (I mean corn) field was a waste of time. Still it was such a neat and well constructed house and... well... I can be an impulse shopper. I bought it for the bargain basement price of $15.

Now I know seeing a bluebird is not that big of a deal anymore. Earlier in the spring I had counted more than fifty as I parked on a gravel road next to the Goethite Wildlife Mangagement area. But having

a pair nesting on my property was something else . The male sat perched on the top

The he entered the house and the female appeared. Over the next ten minutes

I saw the take turns apparently bringing insects to their little brood. Of course, I

didn't have anything but my garden hoe in hand. Today I'll try to get some pictures.

A "bluebird day" full of bluebirds. What a day!