The Hills Are Alive With The Sound of Music

.....Well they aren't hills, it's our yard.

And you can't really see me as Maria can you?

But the music part is totally accurate. The outdoors is alive with sounds, music. I am in awe of the stark contrast between the winter and the spring. Perhaps I am so aware of it because the mild winter meant lots of time spent outside at night this year and really take in the quiet of those nights. The type of winter quiet where you feel like if you strain your hearing just a little bit more you could hear those incredible stars twinkle. The snow underneath the snow shoes crunches loudly, echoing off the trees as you walk. Your breathing sounds loud against the silent backdrop.


This past month the spring music has been like an orchestra. A different instrument, voice being added every few days, at different times. The ravens, the robins, the cardinals, all chiming in. A pair of ruffled grouse making noisy appearances, our chickens clucking as they lay their eggs, the splashes of kids exploring the pond. The tree frogs singing loudly enough they can be heard through closed doors. It's marvelous. I really feel like I connect with the idea of the earth waking from a winter sleep, that I have witnessed this awakening as opposed to being caught off guard that spring arrived. One of the kids commented when we were talking about how beautiful this process has been for us, that it is like watching a flower open in slow motion, stop photography is it called? Seeing the details of the flower petals pull open, revealing each part of its growth as opposed to coming across a beautiful grown flower.