Starlings

The north winds are howling today.  I finally got the leaf and limb cleanup crew to come today and I doubt they'll come due to this blow.  It is literally howling.  Wouldn't you know.

The starlings have arrived and are fighting over the suet cakes.  Must be their favorite meal. Though their vocalizations are not as pretty as a songbird's call, I don't mind theirs'.

I took these pictures last year at the farm.  They were everywhere.  It is something to see how they lift off at the same time; a rare treat to see their murmurations.

Spring is coming, though I can't tell today.  The bulbs are finally peeking up through the earth.  I had to water, since the ground was so dry.  The ground needs rain, but I didn't say that.

Where The Wind Comes Sweeping Down The Plains

Very soon we will go from cold early spring to warmer spring days.  We don't have much in between.  While our last freeze date is mid-April, this year spring has come early.  It will be interesting to see how the spring weather will play out.  It has been a fairly mild winter.  When a cold front meets up against a warm front - well, this is what happens where I live.

Tornado season is nigh.  Though this one is only a Force one or two, it can still wreak havoc if one is in its path.  A Force 5, or stovepipe tornado, literally takes up the grass and pavement along with everything else; it can be more than a mile wide and may stay on the ground for hundreds of miles. Nothing will be left standing.  

The Choctaw Nation installed a free underground tornado shelter for us last year.  I doubt it will get used, at least by me.  Usually I am out scanning the skies, looking for them.  If a Force 5 is coming though, I'll be down in the fraidy hole.  I do have a little sense.