The Pond in Spring

The pond at our farm is waking up after a long winter sleep. The ice has melted, finally. The sandhill cranes are back; a pair has nested on the west shore for several years in a row. I heard the first frog song this week, still rather tentative, but a sure sign that winter has finally retreated. A pair of wood ducks lifted up and winged off to the north when I approached the other day, a red tailed hawk, with its wings spread wide, sailed in big circles, riding the thermals above the valley. And I could smell new growth among the remnants of winter.

A surprise this year. We have a beaver that is busy dragging recently cut aspen trees into the water. Building a beaver house? Maybe. Building a dam? Why? No running water here. Do beavers get confused about what they are doing, like the rest of us from time to time?

THE OLD TIMER SAYS: If everyone is doing it, then this might be the time to question whether you should.

UP COMING EVENTS:

April 17, 9:15 A.M. Jefferson County History and Historic Preservation Conference, Hoard Museum, Fort Atkinson. “Lighter Side of Country Living.”

April 18, 1:45 P.M. Fox Cities Book Festival. Little Chute Public Library. Old Farm: A History.

April 19, 1:00 P.M. Historic Point Basse, Nekoosa. Old Farm: A History

April 23, 7:00 P.M. Richfield Historical Society. Richfield Town Hall. Old Farm: A History.

April 25, 1:30 P.M. Books and Company, First Congregational Church of Christ, 815 S. Concord Rd. Oconomowoc. Old Farm A History.

April 27, 6:30 P.M. Lake Geneva Public Library. Old Farm: A History.

May 1, 9:30 A.M. WEAC-Retired, Sheraton Hotel, Madison. Stories From the Land.

May 6, 7:00 P.M. Albertson Memorial Library, Albany, WI. Old Farm: A History.

May 7, 10:30 A.M. Wisconsin Association of Public Libraries Convention. Glacier Canyon Lodge at Wilderness Way, Wisconsin Dells. Old Farm: A history.

May 13, 7:00 P.M. Hartford Public Library, Hartford. Old Farm: A History.

May 16, 10:30 A.M. – 2:30 P.M. Dregne Gift Shop, Westby. Book Signing.

May 19, 7:00 P.M. Book Vault, Oskaloosa, Iowa. Old Farm: A History, In a Pickle and more.