Thursday, February 03, 2011

Daily Victories: The Sun Does Shine

Two days and more than a foot of snow MORE later...the sun came out.  It does that, you know.  Blue skies.  White piles all around.  Really pretty.  And to top it off, I spotted two bald eagles this morning fishing over the Merrimack River. Fantastic!

While I grew up in the Merrimack Valley, wildlife really wasn't part of the daily life.  The river was off limits back then to just about everything.  Filled with trash and pollution, it boggled the mind how it could even be a water source for communities along its banks.

But things have changed.  Those eagles are proof.  They aren't plants.  Nobody put them here.  They came back.  We have a few nesting pairs, but the Merrimack is also host to a wintering colony that fly south from Canada.  Apparently snow drifts and frozen rivers are balmy for these guys.

But you know, after you've been shoveling and shoveling and laugh while your neighbors curse the skies at the now freezing rain that's falling, it is a glorious thing to drive around and see that massive bird with its white head and tail hovering over some open water. 

Things do change.  Our water ways are cleaner.  The fish stocks are larger.  And the eagles are returning.  It makes one believe Spring might arrive one of these days.

Better times are ahead.  Have a good day.

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