Timberdoodles are liars. I love them dearly, but they lie.
Liars and the false hope they bring.
These dang daffodils are liars too!
Why do I believe them every year?
When will it end? Our last frost date here in The New River Gorge is mid-May. That is, if you are on top of the gorge. Oddly enough, down in the bottom, some 1,000 feet below the cabins in elevation, the final frost days come a few weeks earlier. And so do the buds and birds and flowers.
We are really lucky that way. We can jump ahead of, or back in time depending on our mood. Well, most days anyway. On some, Mother Nature just covers every bet and clears the table.
Robins are liars! Heck, sometimes they show up in January, obviously clueless about when spring will really arrive. Timberdoodles (AKA Woodcocks) are liars, because they will sing and dance and fall from the sky with that magical, other-worldly sound long before nice weather arrives. Snow drops are liars, but everyone knows that because of the name. Red-shouldered hawks are loud and persistent liars, as they circle and glide, circle and glide, day after day in a courtship ritual that is beautiful and misleading. She will sit on the nest for about 4 weeks after they mate before she has to worry about those little fluff balls being exposed to yet another blast of arctic air.
I walked barefoot in the yard on the first day of spring. I had been listening to all those lies, you see. And it hurt! The ground is COLD and WET. Worse than barefooting it in snow. Man, that was stupid, to listen to all those liars.
While winter and spring battle over who is in control, we suggest a quiet cabin tucked in the woods with a fireplace, a hot tub and a front row seat to enjoy the show.
