Here we are...thinking of Spring!

From Melody Jenkins, Director of the Moultrie-Colquitt County Library System:

     Spring is such a wonderful time of the year.  It brings "newness" to everything...plants, trees, animals and humans.  There is something about the way the world looks at this time of year that is very exhilarating.  The air just feels different; fresh and filled with the scent of flowers.
     My grandmother had a large bed of tulips and daffodils outside of her dining room window.  Growing up in Cincinnati, the sight of those blooming after a long, cold, dreary winter was so exciting.  I clearly remember gazing at them for hours.
     My 8th grade English teacher, Ann Brown, was very eccentric.  She made us memorize poetry and recite it in front of the class.  One of the poems that I recited has always stuck in my mind, especially at this time of the year.  I hope you enjoy it as much as I always have.

Daffodils by William Wordsworth

I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the milky way,
They stretched in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

The waves beside them danced, but they
Out-did the sparkling leaves in glee;
A poet could not be but gay,
In such a jocund company!
I gazed - and gazed - but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought:

For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.

Our free magazines go fast!

     I just love it when people bring in their neat, clean magazines for us to recycle.  And believe me, they go fast!
    Yesterday I was fast enough to "rescue" a copy of Birds & Booms.  I used to take a subscription to this magazine, so I know what beautiful pictures and great information they have each month. 
     This particular issue was dated February/March 2003.  It covered topics all the way from red-tailed hawks, broad-tailed hummingbirds, and hungry woodpeckers to sweet hyacinths, fragrant jasmines, and colorful tulips.  There was advice for tough birding, being a relaxed gardner, and building a leak-proof water garden.
     When I got to the article titled "Spring Awakens From Its Sleep," I knew I was getting spring fever.  It's time (even if it is February) for us to watch for the migrating birds. 
     Although the Carolina Wrens and American Finches will be be in droves before long, it's time for me to watch for the two red-tailed hawks that live near me.  They're here year 'round, but every year they build a nest of bulky twigs high up in one of our tall pine trees.  As the female sits on the nest, the male brings her food.  And after about a month their babies hatch and then practice their flying before they finally leave the nest when they're about 45 days old.  Of course, all during this time, I'm sitting on my front porch with the "lookers" (my binocs), thoroughly enjoying their comings and goings.
     This particular Birds & Blooms magazine had pictures of brilliant bluebirds, peppermint camellias, green and yellow turtles, and a garden filled with tulips in every color you could imagine.  It showed fun and functional birdhouses made like old jails, working windmills, fish and anchors.  It advised me to get out my hummingbird feeders because in March they'll be here.  It warned me to clean out that old feeder and get ready for Mr. Cardinal to start feeding Mrs. Cardinal.  It made me curious what I could find here in our library that I could check out and take home to read.
     So, I went looking. 
     Books about birds are in Section 598.  Our Pines catalog says we have 890 books all the way from Audubon to feeding, songs, behavior, and what makes a bird a bird.
     Books about flowers are in Sections 635 and 745.  There are 380 books that tell about "The A-Z of Garden Flowers," wildflowers, dried flowers, and even how to arrange flowers.
    The gardening books are in Section 635 also, with about 410 books.  Here's where you can find clear and simple gardening, high-yield gardening, flower gardens, luscious lawns, and how to design any fabulous garden you have in mind.
     Of course, I love birdhouses and I had to check them out.  They're in Section 690, but there are only 12 books.  Nevertheless, they will tell you how to make the kind of birdhouses and feeders that will attract birds, how to paint the houses, and how to use gourds, cans and wooden boxes.
     Next time you're in the library, stop by the long counter on the other side of the lighted display cases and see if we have any free magazines.  Sometimes we even have old Southern Living magazines filled with articles about the beauty of the South, as well as birds, flowers, and gardens.
     Right now I'm still reading through that old Birds & Blooms magazine.  It has awakened my spirit to the coming of spring.  It's time I dusted off those "lookers" and placed my chair in just the right spot on my front porch.  The spring-time show is about to begin.  And I want to be ready!