Little Sisters in the Morning Field

The deer (all young does in these photos) are feeding in a sheltered hollow at the distant edge of the western field - they are not far from the safety of the woods if they should sense approaching danger. The task we set for ourselves several years ago continues to be performed every day or two this winter: bringing seed and suet for our winter birds, cutting and piling cedar browse for the deer and bringing grain and apples for added nourishment. In late April, the Two Hundred Acre Wood will be populated with delicate freckled fawns and their watchful mothers.

As I drink my coffee this morning, a few cheerful thoughts are making their way into the air along with the heady vapour of my libation. The great bucks in the highlands are beginning to drop their antlers. A few days ago, I heard the song of the Saw-Whet Owl in the woods, known as "the sugar bird" here for its habit of singing as the maple syrup season commences. In an old oak tree deep in the woods, a pair of Great Horned Owls have already begun to nest.

It will be many weeks here before the geese, ducks, loons and larks return or there is any visible sign of springtime in the countryside, but like the deer and the chickadees, I am a little restless, and my thoughts are turning toward the greening time - my ears are already there and listening for the return of migratory friends. Blessed be the Old Wild Mother, Her turning year and the seasons, blessed be the children of sky, forest, hillside and fen.