Winter Wild

When the land goes dormant and the temperature plummets to where no living thing can feel comfort, I still see beauty and wonder in the wild of my cold mountain.  It is the nature of this planet to have four seasons and I love the winter wild.

Life is everywhere in winter.  Even while chipmunks, turtles, snakes and insects all dig in for a long winter snooze and the bears are sleeping, all the babies are growing strong.
Many birds and other mammals are eeking out their existence in the cold and snow.  Squirrels and nuthatches survive on nuts and seeds that they gathered in the fall.

 Wild turkey meander across the winter fields in search of harvest leftovers.  Deer are wandering and nibbling at the green stems of forest or suburban shrubs.

Cardinals begin their mating rituals, surviving on winter riverside berries and bird feeders.  Eagles and hawks soar above in an endless dance of air borne predator and land bound prey.

This morning I woke to temps around 4 F (-15.5 C) and as I was stoking the fire in the wood stove, I found myself thinking about how wonderful it is to have 4 seasons.

I also think of how appreciative I am for all that I have...a good hubby, warm home, wild critter neighbors, and relative good health to name a few.

 I do worry that the wonderful winters will diminish in this warming world and that I may be one of the last generations of humans to experience and appreciate the beauty of 4 seasons.

 I read that the arctic temps are above freezing and equatorial water temps are approaching the highest ever recorded.   I have seen the world get warmer over the course of my lifetime.
My birthday wish is that all the future years will see a restoration of sanity and that future humans will live in harmony with their world without exploiting it.  It is my birthday wish that the value of wild will be higher than the value of a dollar.