Dawn and the promise of sunshine

 

that splashes on the floor through a window prism.

I soaked my bare toes in color

for luck...

and as luck would have it

one of these, a red shouldered hawk,

balanced precariously on the fence post

just outside my window.

I could not reach my camera but found this image

(see below). 

Often small birds - juncoes, sparrows, chickadees - 

will spend a moment preening on the post. 

Once or twice a squirrel has made it

a lookout point.

The hawk was a surprise - I can still feel

my jaw dropping.

The sun and wind were irresistible. I bundled up

and went out looking for signs of spring. The wind is

cold but not bitter, the pond's edges are beginning to melt,

skunk cabbage whorls are visible in the snow,

and I startled a flock of robins into windy flight.

In a mere month spring will be declared, rain will wash away 

the last of the grimy snow,

and I won't have to go looking for signs.

I will be surrounded by the season.

And so the great wheel keeps turning.

*hawk photo from: birdsasart.com