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The Artist’s
Almanac
March 2009
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……..daffodils
That come before the swallow dares, and take
The winds of March with beauty
Shakespeare, The Winter’s Tale
This morning the daffodils take the
wet March snow, the schools are closed for the day, and thousands
of Mothers scramble for arrangements as the children whoop.
With sleet, heat, drying winds,
thunder, and driving rains, March is as volatile as today’s
markets, and we can only hope all the swirling weather patterns do
not develop into another tornado such as the ones we have suffered
the last two years. The economic tornado sweeping away our jobs
and our retirement plans is bad enough; spare us the roof over our
heads.
Spring comes suddenly and passes too
soon to summer’s heat. But today is all promise: willows show
green and the blossoming fruit trees risk a late freeze. Our roses
are flourishing tender new growth, and require a hard first
pruning for the season.
Last Spring’s Tulips
The deer have noticed the tender new
growth and they grow bolder and more numerous. But they have made
a serious mistake this year. They have cropped the shoots of all
the tulips my wife planted last year. I doubt the red pepper and
chili powder she sprinkled on the forlorn stumps will do any more
good than closing the proverbial barn door.
Wildlife begins as adorable, then
turns brazen, and finally, moves in as unwelcome guests. Raccoons
open trash cans and shred plastic bags and contents over the yard.
A coyote took Tufts, our beautiful cat, and, Hunter, her twin has
been in lonely mourning since. The seed we put out for the
songbirds attracts pesky squirrels and a metropolis of moles.
When the turkeys invaded our patio
to litter and to preen themselves in the reflection of our
windows, they were not welcomed. Now large flocks of them block a
main thoroughfare a mile from our house, sauntering between homes
where they are fed, too stupid to move out of the way. The same
Tennessee Wildlife Agency that imported them will, at the request
of an overrun landowner, net and remove them to another landowner,
much as they do black bears in the Smokies. Canada geese that were
brought here and that no longer migrate create similar problems,
and can be aggressive, as well.
These cute deer pose even bigger
problems to humans, and they are growing. In the 1950s, the
Tennessee Wildlife Agency began importing whitetail deer into the
area. They can be a deadly menace to road traffic, and are
invisible at dusk. They harbor the dangerous deer tick, which last
summer cost me a day in the emergency room and two anxious weeks
of waiting on a lab culture which, fortunately, was negative. Deer
tick fever is a crippling, painful, chronic and incurable malady,
but not all bitten contract it. Parents should check their
children for this tiny insect and think twice before putting out
salt blocks.
Fireworks and BB guns no longer
deter our deer. They look at us with curiosity, waiting to be fed.
I am thinking of borrowing a paint ball gun from my warrior
grandsons and marking first offenders. The pellets hurt, but do
not injure.
We no longer eat what we kill. Once,
in leaner times we fed off the wild game around us; now, in fat
times the game we imported feeds off us. Perhaps the economic
storms sweeping our land will change that back, back to a simpler
life, restoring a natural balance to nature. And to our other
needs, and wishes, as well.
Upcoming Events
The Founding of the Cumberland
Settlements prospectus
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Gallatin Junior Service League –
Tenth Annual Art In Bloom Show – March 27-28, 2009, Bluegrass
Country Club, Hendersonville, Tennessee
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Fall Into Art – Third Annual
Art Show benefiting Hendersonville High School’s Academic and Arts
Program, October 2-4, 2009
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