Monday, March 02, 2009

3/02/09 OLD MOTHER HUBBARD WENT TO THE CUPBOARD...






Monday, 8:15 AM. –2 degrees, up from –6 earlier. Wind W, very light. Skies are mostly blue, and the barometer predicts precipitation.
I’m getting low on bird seed and have been rationing it, resulting in the birds eating every seed and wasting little. Sounds like a plan for the rest of us.
Actually nature’s cupboard, unlike Old Mrs. Hubbard’s is seldom empty. The photos give a hint at what is still there in nature for the critters if they get hungry enough. All kinds of buds, fat poplar and hazel buds being favorites, all kinds of less desirable seeds and fruits which are still available in an emergency, like rose hips, old frozen apples, crab apples, Viburnum and mountain ash fruits, sumac, and even exotics like buckthorn and barberry. And of course a favorite deer browse, white cedar, in abundance, and the ubiquitous birch seeds., “He (God or Nature, take your pick) gives them all their meat in due season.”
I went to the cupboard and there was still a Beggin’ Strip for the Lucky Dog, so he is satisfied as well.