Saved by the birds: for this family, winter seemed to last forever. And then came the chickadees.(a child's world)

Publication: Mothering

Publication Date: 01-MAR-05

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COPYRIGHT 2005 Mothering Magazine

WINTER CAN TAX THE SPIRIT. It's not necessarily the cold or the darkness--although those contribute--it's the apparent lifelessness outside. The endless whites and grays of snow and the leafless trees reveal no hint of relief.

Two years ago, when the cold season extended into April, my children and I felt our New England mettle begin to crumble. Sleds had lost their appeal; all we wanted was for the ice to melt into lush lawns for games of shoeless tag. My daughter began to believe that some callous weather-maker had skipped summer and gone on to the next winter.

But then we were saved by the chickadees.

We had affixed a bird feeder to our living-room window and hung some suet on the nearby, bare lilac bush. One morning, as my kids snuggled with me near the window, rubbing their sleepy eyes, trying to erase the disappointing image of more snow, a chickadee alighted on the feeder. Unlike some of the other birds that came by, the chickadee seemed as curious about us as we were about him. Moving...

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