Countdown to Spring

Early last night, the coyotes started howling in the woods across from our farm. I could hear their high-pitched voices in my bedroom. It was that loud. The sound bounced off of our barn and echoed, making it sound so eerie. It frightened me. I don't want this pack to target our animals.

We lost an adult pinto duck (my favorite) the other day to a raccoon. Now we have a baby monitor linked to the hen house and duck pen to hear any signs of distress. Hopefully we'll get out there before something happens. The opossums are the ones that really disturb me. They don't kill for survival, but just to kill. Last year we had two opossum hits. They killed our rabbits and chickens and their offspring. It looked like a war zone.

I was so agitated by the howling, I made Meghan and Nick listen too. Just to confirm where they thought the coyotes were. The sound was bouncing all over the place. Then neighborhood dogs (I live in the country, so the neighborhood dogs live an orchard or field away) began howling too. So I threw open my bedroom window and started howling, which I thought would be a warning to stay away. Yes, I'm fluent in Coyote. Strangely-- every other dog stopped, except for me. Then I stopped. And listened. Heard a single "woof" from far away. Then just the cold air. Closed the window and climbed into bed. ( Howling made me feel good-- I really belted it out. I think I released some of my tension.)

The day had been exhausting. Teaching in the schools( grades K-2), then a dentist appointment, which has had me twirled out for weeks. I've been so distressed about this. Now I have a temporary crown on a back molar (I'm a queen!) with the directions of no vigorous chewing on that side. If it falls off, bring it back in and we'll fix it. I'm going away next week to give a reading and workshops in PA, and I was concerned about this possibility. If it falls out in PA, Fixodent will glue it back in. If I swallow it, I'm, well, out of luck.

I have to be really good for two weeks. This may be an imposed diet. And this week is the beginning of Lent. So I'm off to a good start.

College was on break last week. The next six weeks will fly by. It always does. Hope everyone had a good rest. We've had close to 107 inches of snow this year. I guess it's a record matching 2003-04. March ping-pongs in weather: rain, snow, sun (repeat). Spring, where are you? Please come soon.

Need to look at that stack of catalogs. we'll be planting our seeds in starter trays in a couple of weeks and gearing up for 100 days of summer.

Still enjoying last year's harvest. I'm counting my blessings.