We who dwell within the Pacific Northwest simply survived some historic chilly temps and a significantly drawn-out freeze. We trudged our manner by means of snow, slush and ice. And after the lengthy darkish that started in October, that extra-special mixture of concrete skies, nose-hair-curling chilly, fog and intermittent rain was a drag on the spirit.
Add to the traditional February gloom some heaping scoops of dizzying political craziness, and it will possibly really feel like no quantity of Valentine’s chocolate, heat yoga or meditation may anchor us in sustained happiness.
However there’s a Northwest secret sauce of pleasure simply exterior your door this time of 12 months, and it’s solely going to get higher.
Since January of 2019, I’ve had a observe of waking up early and strolling. And since I’ve walked the identical route almost daily at almost the identical time for 5 years, I can let you know magic is astir in the dead of night presently of 12 months.
It begins with the all the time stunning, all the time inevitable, clear, wealthy whistle of the various thrush. I begin listening for them on New Yr’s Day, however I often have to attend every week or two earlier than that first word pierces the darkish. For me, it’s a coronary heart word — a clarion name to hold in there. For every week or two it’s a single name. Then — connection! One other thrush calls again, often in a distinctly decrease or larger tone. A duet begins. Generally the decision and response sounds over lengthy distances, generally from only a department away.
As our Northern Hemisphere tilts again towards the solar, early morning skies shift from pitch black to slate to oyster-shell grey. With the rise in gentle comes a rise in music. Chestnut-backed chickadees flit among the many low branches of azaleas and rhodies with chirpy, fast, barely scratchy renditions of “chick-a-dee-dee-dee.” Black-capped chickadees chime in with softer variations. Robins dot the lawns and raise from floor to apple tree with cheery, liquid melodies. Noticed towhees rap out a brisk, rapid-fire salute.
One in all my favourite birdsong highlights is the whistle-trill-flourish of the music sparrow swelling in opposition to pewter skies. Should you pause and observe their music, you’ll spot them perched alongside slender stretches of maples and star magnolias and cherry timber. Their spherical our bodies stand out like musical notations on branched strains of music. Should you get shut sufficient, you possibly can see their beaks open and shut and their breasts throb with vibration.
Even the prosaic, scrappy crow has its moments. In our neighborhood, crows swoop in twos and threes and caw from the tops of cedars and Doug fir. However simply final week dozens of them skimmed throughout the gibbous, pearl-glow moon in a crew, asserting necessary crow enterprise.
It’s all the time a miracle how, in a matter of weeks, that single word of the various thrush is joined by the rattle-tsk of dark-eyed juncoes, the whir of Anna’s hummingbirds and the two-tone name of the northern flicker and so many chirps and chits and flights of notes I’ve but to determine.
So. Able to dispel the gloom? Step out your door.
As a result of we’re nonetheless within the buildup. Everybody’s warming up for the total spring symphony.
The most effective antidote to gloom is discovering pleasure. And there’s nothing extra joyful than the return of sunshine and birdsong after the lengthy darkish of winter.
The magic is going on now.
Stroll out into it.
