Cabin fever

Tonight we worked with our Bear scouts again to finish up the bird houses they built last week. The birdhouses have become something of a yearly tradition now, as the boys love working with tools, and the birdhouses are actually useful. We have proof. We’ve completed three of our own through the years and hung them in various places in our back yard, and every year they’ve attracted bird families.

So I decided to take one of them down (I built them to be removable from the mounting board) and show the boys that they really do attract birds. Here’s the nest built by our guests in 2015. Considering the two different colors of materials and the clear difference in layers, we think there may have been two separate families using the birdhouse last year.

I’m ready for spring. I’m ready to take down the other birdhouses for spring cleaning, too. I’m ready for some green, for some crocuses poking up through the soil. I’m ready for some sunshine and the smell of soil.

It’s been a good winter. We’ve received the first good snowpack since we moved here. We’ve had snow on the ground pretty much continually since early December–something entirely unheard-of in Boise. It’s mid-February and I haven’t been able to take down my Christmas lights yet (that doesn’t mean I turn them on, mind you–I’m not a total heathen!). But the days are getting longer and the weather is warming. I’m ready. Yo, bring it! Punxatawny Phil said so, and you don’t wanna mess with Phil, yaknowhadaimean?

I’d like to be able to get out of my driveway without having to aim for the breach. We live at the end of a cul-de-sac, and the city plows always seem to push the snow to either side of our driveway. Invariably it overlaps, leaving a gap only big enough for one vehicle to get through, and only after I shovel through part of it. It feels like something out of “Dune”, like when the Fremen blast a hole through the shield wall surrounding the capital city.

On the other hand, spring will bring with it the list of projects that need to be done. I’ve got to fence off our garden area from our overly-curious, always hungry, able-to-eat-garbage Labrador who learned last year that he likes tomatoes off the vine. And anything else that smells like food. Like raspberries.

The boys want to get outside and play basketball again. I want to be able to leave windows open and air out the house. I want to be able to walk the dog in the morning without having to dress like I’m headed out on an Arctic expedition. I want to see my gas bill go down.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m grateful for the snow we’ve seen this year, and I’m glad we have variety in our seasons. I’m sure I wouldn’t appreciate warm weather nearly so much if that was all we ever had. Winter is a nice contrast. But it’s had its day. Give spring a chance!

I’m ready to see new families moving into our birdhouses.