While walking early one drizzly February morning with my doxie, I heard a very loud chorus of bird voices. Throughout a large, leafless oak in a farmhouse yard spread a congregation of robins. Their cheery orange breasts shone in the muted sunlight filtering through showery clouds. The presence of so many of these distinctive creatures was startling. Their chattering rose in waves that washed over Cosmo and I as we stood on the road. It was like a choir of gladness.
February is robin-like. Mid-month is technically mid-winter and at this precise point Valentines Day arrives. This funny little pseudo-holiday is the bright orange breast of winter. For a brief moment in the very heart of the season’s stark colorlessness we are immersed in chocolate and flowers and bright red hearts. We gorge on the color and taste and tenderness of love’s offerings. Somehow winter seems shortened and springtime hastened by the bold admonishment of this one day: Remember to show your love.
The ranks of robins thin by month’s end. Perhaps they scatter and mingle among other birds throughout the year. Or maybe they retreat to the hills and woodlands, far from man and his machinery. Regardless, their unexpected appearance in midwinter gladdens the wet, chilly days of February and makes my heart want to sing along with them.
Do the people you love know it?