Yesterday there were so many birds out, it was amazing.  They were in all the trees, flying in and out, and the robins were right in front of my window upstairs walking and taking sips of water from the gutters where the snow had melted.  I didn’t even think to take a photo, but I did sketch (not very well) some sparrows as they flitted about sitting still for only a few seconds.  The sky was heavy gray but they didn’t seem to mind, the snow was in a stage of melt and there were lots of puddles, too cold for jumping in, but good for long drinks.  I miss seeing more birds here, there doesn’t seem to be a lot of birds, even when I put out feeders.  I see the blue jays who drive all the others away so I don’t put them out anymore.  When I lived in California on the central coast there were always birds around.  I loved the mockingbirds who sang in the evenings from a huge and ancient Cecile Brunner rose bush that had a trunk like a tree and grew over the top of our porch.  I think that mockingbird loved that rose bush as much as I did!  In our temperate coastal clime it bloomed year round with hundreds of perfect one inch roses shaped like miniature tea roses.  I miss that place so much, but sometimes life moves us around where we never meant to find ourselves.  I was so caught up back then with the busy-ness of life with children, I never realized I would never be able to go back again to that geographical landscape.  I take my own responsibility for leaving, and now I’ve learned you really can’t go back and be careful what you wish for is really true.

 Here is a photo of the bundle I hung out at the beginning of the month.  We’ve had such rainy and snowy weather this month the little packet is already beginning to age quite nicely.  I hope that metal sewing machine part will rust some, it will make a great addition to the final art piece I am planning!  Note the hands on this one instead of legs like last years, they look as if they are planning on flying upward! 

 In the meantime, I do believe change is always possible.  The above business card-size painting of the place I need to return to, done a few years ago when I first began painting again and could only manage very tiny paintings, look how that has changed!