The Dark of December

Good morning! Every morning we are greeted with song from a Carolina wren whose home must be very near our bedroom window. As the light has retreated in these winter days, his wake-up call gets later and later--now it is 7:15. You could almost set a watch by him. After solstice, his song will come earlier and earlier, assuring that we sleepyheads will be awake at daybreak whenever it comes.

You can hear a lot of birds in the video above, most notably the woodpecker--sounds like the red-bellied to me. The video is not mine, but from Youtube--I am never camera-ready when our bird sings.

This morning he sang only one time, and he sounded cold, not his usual happy, chipper self. I hope he's all right. We have enjoyed his company for this past year.

One of my favorite poems is about a bird singing in December, and our wren reminds me of it.

I Heard a Bird Sing

by

Oliver Herford (1863–1935)

I heard a bird sing

In the dark of December.

A magical thing

And sweet to remember.

"We are nearer to Spring

Than we were in September,”

I heard a bird sing

In the dark of December.

Copyright Susanna Holstein. All rights reserved. No Republication or Redistribution Allowed without attribution to Susanna Holstein.