C. Stroup: The best things about spring

Now that glorious spring is here
We can forget about earlier this year.
And Oh My Gosh it sure was cold enough.
And just exactly what was all that white stuff?

The trees have turned to a vibrant green
Except for a few that are dead it seems.
Shrubs are suffering a similar fate
Or hopefully just decided to bloom real late.

I’ve patiently waited for the bushes out front
To stop looking brown – that’s all that I want.
To replace them with new ones is not my desire
Since the cost to do that will so not be minor.

On one thing you bet I can always depend
There’ll be a plethora of oak trees due to my “friends.”
I use that word loosely as year after year
An army of squirrels kick in to high gear.

They bury every acorn from miles around
In flower beds, landscaping and especially the ground.
My front yard resembles Yosemite Park
Full of hundreds of saplings planted in the day and after dark.

One of spring’s awesome sights I see
Is the flocks of birds eating berries from trees.
The yaupons that bear tiny red beads
Beckon to robins whose masses they feed.

They gather together in feathery filled masses
Swooping down on the trees ~ making 3 or 4 passes.
I’ve witnessed them strip a tree in less than 3 hours
Leaving all of the leaves but the berries devoured.

As spring makes its appearance for a few weeks it brings
A shower of what I call wormy looking things.
They drip from the trees and cover all that’s beneath.
I’ve had them stuck in my hair and even my teeth!

I clean them up one day and the next day they’re back,
Kinda like those oak trees, they’re a big pain in the neck.
But once they all have fallen the new leaves follow fast.
And that’s when you know that spring is here at last.

This year we have a bonus in our midst.
It’s a lovely young couple we watched have a tryst.
They’ve created a nest in a Blue Bonnet patch
Where 5 eggs she laid way down in the thatch.

It won’t be too long before 5 ducklings will hatch.
They’ll end up in our pool and be impossible to catch.
One thing that’s worse is a bunch of baby bunnies.
When they fall in the pool it really, really isn’t funny.

That’s what happened last year much to my chagrin.
They popped out of their nest and decided to go for a swim.
No one around to assist it took me quite awhile
But I managed to save the lot ~ that should make you smile!

Spring puts a smile on my face every year.
I relish the season; I hold all it brings dear.