As The Seasons Turn

The year is winding down. I find myself wanting to say something like “and not a moment too soon!”. But I won’t do it, because it always winds down about now. Whether the year has been a good one or a bad one. Whether there is a white Christmas, or not. Whatever your success marker for the year is, it does not really matter in the grand scheme of things: Nature perseveres.

I was reminded of this fact a few days ago when a long missing blush of red showed up in the neighborhood. Common Redpolls are tiny. About the same size as a Chickadee- 5-ish inches. They would be easy to overlook if it were not for their deep red forehead and blush of red/pink on their sides. I have not seen a Redpoll since 2017, when we actually had an irruption of them that resulted in our feed having upwards of 200 at a time for a couple of weeks. We referred to it as a Redpoll-pocalypse.

This year, with time seeming to move differently and with so much tumult in the world, seeing a Redpoll was a very nice reminder that nature is still quite clearly in the divers seat. We are, without question, causing fluctuations and having a negative impact, but nature is still in the game and insisting that things follow a well established timeline of change.

Seeing a Redpoll told me that, despite the mild weather I am personally experiencing, despite the general trend towards warming and despite the wild weather that is playing out across the plant, winter is here and will likely assert itself soon.

And Spring will follow. Birds and mammals and plants will tell about that change as well. Whether the then current conditions support that conclusion or not. I find comfort in being reminded that the relentless and dependable cycles of nature are carrying on regardless of whether we see them clearly or not.

I hope that you can find time to get outside and get some nature!