`Spring, 2023, has arrived!

How is it possible well over another month has flown by? In the teaching world, April is a month full of testing and preparing for the last couple of months of school, so it’s a busy time. Then May comes and there’s all the last-minute things we want to do before the school year wraps up in June.

Spring is slowly making its way into North-west lower Michigan. Living in the snow-belt, we are used to getting snow well into spring and just had several inches a couple of weeks or so ago. Now we have lilacs blooming, flowers starting to blossom, green grass coming up, and green leaves finally popping out on the trees. The songbirds are returning from their migration, the apple trees are in blossom and we are starting to plant seeds indoors to prepare for our garden this summer. It’s a beautiful time of year, with warmer temperatures for the most part, but not really hot. I’ve shared some of the highlights below, and yes I say highlights because I take a lot of photos!

Be Still

The first picture on the slideshow should be a Baltimore Oriole. I took this photo along with many others while sitting in our backyard swing. I’d spent a couple of hours working hard in our backyard, getting our garden area and prepped and ready for the season and cleaning a few things up. I was tired and took a moment to rest in the swing. While I was sitting and relaxing, I heard a familiar sound.

With Spring Migration in full swing, I’ve learned to take my good camera out with me, which has a larger lens. I happened to have it sitting next to me when a special backyard visitor made its first appearance of the spring. Sitting still on the swing, I was able to get some great shots. The bird didn’t even seem to know I was there, and stayed for quite a while.

Sitting still is not often easy. In our busy world, we like to stay active, always doing something and completing tasks from day to day. Sometimes though the best thing we can do is to take a moment and stay still. Sometimes, the best views come in the moments when we cease striving and just let ourselves be still.

Until next time,

Cindy