Well, of course that rodent said more winter, but this old Heeler knows that this season goes on til March, no matter what. Maybe longer.
We had a couple more very cold days; I insist on going out and laying at my station on the porch, but nobody lets me stay very long, fearing I will freeze right down to the boards, I guess. I am out there trying, in usual Heeler fashion, to just will the weather to warm up. Even the sun refuses to give in, though, and cold temps stay all day. But maybe my efforts work, though, because today it was much warmer.
There is a lot of wild critters around here, especially in the cold season, and now they all seem to be hanging around waiting for Spring, too. The deer and turkeys are especially thick in the yard, waiting for dropped chicken or bird seed, for the horses to miss a little grain, and to pick up hay when the livestock aren’t at the feeders.
And you never know who else will show up!
We have watched and followed the turkeys through the years. At first I’m told, they were rare, only glimpsed in the trees, and very wild. One year, a single bird came near. Over the years, more showed up in the winter, and some years there have been dozens of them. Other years, not one bird has come through the ranch.
I have seen them fly down from the hills, the sky alive with huge birds hurtling to the ground, wings wide. At dusk, they fly straight up into the dark pines. They are odd, funny, impressive and too many.
I used to think they were part of my charges, and I would herd them up in groups, to eat with the chickens. I was pretty good at that, but learned that just because they moved in, herding them was not my responsibility.
Lewis and Clark did not report seeing the big birds when they journeyed through this country, because there were none back then. Even though Ben Franklin nominated it for the national bird, it was not common nationwide long ago. The first turkeys arrived in Montana when 13 birds from Colorado were imported in 1954, then another 44 came in the next few years. No more birds came after that, but now there are hundreds of thousands of them, all over the country. They can adapt!
This year, they are pushy and persistent, even flying up to the porch to empty the bird feeders.
I suppose all the critters are hungry, with little winter grass or seeds by now, for any of them. Deer and turkeys are willing to risk anything to get a few bites.
Of course, we let them be. I used to bark at the deer til I was “blue” in the face, even chase them, but not anymore.
My ranch is a safe haven. After all, I get to go inside, always have a good dinner and nice bed, sometimes to be enjoyed without cats, so I cannot begrudge them a little space and food.
Did you know a flock of turkeys is also called a rafter. I don’t know how many that is, but there are rafters all over here. They start strutting and gobbling when warm days hint of Spring.
Soon the big toms will start cussing, pushing and fighting right in the yard; sometimes they run right into me!
Then soon after, they will all be gone.
Strutting turkey tracks
They will return to the high country and live wild again – skittish, cautious, gliding swiftly away through the trees. It seems strange that they would run from me then, seeing me on the four-wheeler, when I know them all.
But they return to self-sufficiency I suppose, not taking advantage of hospitality, being the bird God created them to be. Wild at heart and over the desperation that the cold brings, they continue on their own path.
I guess that is what we all need to do, in spite of detours, hurdles, changes we don’t want or expect. Struggle through the tough times, be creative, adapt, make changes. Take help where you can when you need. Remember to lend a hand as well. But feel the sun on your face, look ahead with joy and optimism.
There are only five more Saturdays until Spring! Give me a sunny day above freezing, when the snow starts melting, and this old Heeler can hardly stand the glorious joy of my right path into Spring!
As you follow the path God created for you, run it rejoicing right into Spring!
Even if there is plenty of winter to leap through first.
“Walk in obedience to all that the Lord your God has commanded you, so that you may live and prosper and prolong your days in the land that you will possess.” – Deuteronomy 5:33
