{"id":1156,"date":"2016-04-24T21:23:21","date_gmt":"2016-04-25T02:23:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dev.firepowerdesign.com\/kp\/?p=1156"},"modified":"2016-04-25T08:13:59","modified_gmt":"2016-04-25T13:13:59","slug":"welcome-spring-weve-been-waiting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/dev.firepowerdesign.com\/kp\/welcome-spring-weve-been-waiting\/","title":{"rendered":"Welcome spring. We&#8217;ve been waiting."},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Yes, it comes, eventually. We wait, with some impatience, and then suddenly, it arrives. Here&#8217;s a great excerpt from a poem by John Goethe:<\/p>\n<p><strong>LATE WISCONSIN SPRING<\/strong><br \/>\n<em>Snow melts into the earth and a gentle breeze<br \/>\nLoosens the damp gum wrappers, the stale leaves<br \/>\nLeft over from autumn, and the dead brown grass.<br \/>\nThe sky shakes itself out. And the invisible birds<br \/>\nWinter put away somewhere return, the air relaxes,<br \/>\nPeople start to circulate again in twos and threes.<br \/>\nThe dominant feelings are the blue sky, and the year.<br \/>\n\u2014Memories of other seasons and the billowing wind;<br \/>\nThe light gradually altering from difficult to clear<br \/>\nAs a page melts and a photograph develops in the backyard.  <\/em><\/p>\n<p>Of course, for me, spring is exciting. The birds that winter put away, are returning to the yard, the woods and the lakes. And so my hobby becomes much more interesting. The backyard is awakening too and of course that is nice but also means the return of yard WORK. I think I used to enjoy it more. Now, I enjoy it some of the time. This weekend we got the garden tilled up and some kale and kohlrabi plants in. The grass already needed a trim. The hummingbird and oriole feeders are out; we&#8217;re ready.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_1168\" style=\"width: 970px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1168\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/dev.firepowerdesign.com\/kp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/chippie.png\" alt=\"Of course the first thing to awaken is my backyard nemesis.\" width=\"960\" height=\"640\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1168\" srcset=\"http:\/\/dev.firepowerdesign.com\/kp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/chippie.png 960w, http:\/\/dev.firepowerdesign.com\/kp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/chippie-300x200.png 300w, http:\/\/dev.firepowerdesign.com\/kp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/chippie-768x512.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 960px) 100vw, 960px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-1168\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Of course the first thing to awaken is my backyard nemesis.<\/p><\/div>\n<div id=\"attachment_1171\" style=\"width: 990px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1171\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/dev.firepowerdesign.com\/kp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/Wren.png\" alt=\"Our first returning House Wren wasted not time and started checking out possible nesting sites so he&#039;s ready when his lady returns.\" width=\"980\" height=\"653\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1171\" srcset=\"http:\/\/dev.firepowerdesign.com\/kp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/Wren.png 980w, http:\/\/dev.firepowerdesign.com\/kp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/Wren-300x200.png 300w, http:\/\/dev.firepowerdesign.com\/kp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/Wren-768x512.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 980px) 100vw, 980px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-1171\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Our first returning House Wren wasted not time and started checking out possible nesting sites so he&#8217;s ready when his lady returns.<\/p><\/div>\n<div id=\"attachment_1169\" style=\"width: 990px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1169\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/dev.firepowerdesign.com\/kp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/woodduck.png\" alt=\"We had a couple Wood ducks fly in to a tree in our yard the other day. Funny to see them just perched like a sparrow or chickadee.\" width=\"980\" height=\"653\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1169\" srcset=\"http:\/\/dev.firepowerdesign.com\/kp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/woodduck.png 980w, http:\/\/dev.firepowerdesign.com\/kp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/woodduck-300x200.png 300w, http:\/\/dev.firepowerdesign.com\/kp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/woodduck-768x512.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 980px) 100vw, 980px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-1169\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">We had a couple Wood ducks fly in to a tree in our yard the other day. Funny to see them perched like a sparrow or chickadee, high in a tree.<\/p><\/div>\n<div id=\"attachment_1165\" style=\"width: 990px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1165\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/dev.firepowerdesign.com\/kp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/robin-2016.png\" alt=\"Although a few stay around all winter, when Robins start arriving in numbers, you know Spring is really here.\" width=\"980\" height=\"653\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1165\" srcset=\"http:\/\/dev.firepowerdesign.com\/kp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/robin-2016.png 980w, http:\/\/dev.firepowerdesign.com\/kp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/robin-2016-300x200.png 300w, http:\/\/dev.firepowerdesign.com\/kp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/robin-2016-768x512.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 980px) 100vw, 980px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-1165\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Although a few stay around all winter, when Robins start arriving in numbers, you know Spring is really here.<\/p><\/div>\n<p>And here are a few from my spring ramblings.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_1166\" style=\"width: 990px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1166\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/dev.firepowerdesign.com\/kp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/hornedgrebe.png\" alt=\"Horned Grebe. A weird and wonderful looking bird.\" width=\"980\" height=\"653\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1166\" srcset=\"http:\/\/dev.firepowerdesign.com\/kp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/hornedgrebe.png 980w, http:\/\/dev.firepowerdesign.com\/kp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/hornedgrebe-300x200.png 300w, http:\/\/dev.firepowerdesign.com\/kp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/hornedgrebe-768x512.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 980px) 100vw, 980px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-1166\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Horned Grebe. A weird and wonderful looking bird.<\/p><\/div>\n<div id=\"attachment_1167\" style=\"width: 990px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1167\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/dev.firepowerdesign.com\/kp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/turtles.png\" alt=\"Painted turtles catching some spring sun.\" width=\"980\" height=\"653\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1167\" srcset=\"http:\/\/dev.firepowerdesign.com\/kp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/turtles.png 980w, http:\/\/dev.firepowerdesign.com\/kp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/turtles-300x200.png 300w, http:\/\/dev.firepowerdesign.com\/kp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/turtles-768x512.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 980px) 100vw, 980px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-1167\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Painted turtles catching some spring sun.<\/p><\/div>\n<div id=\"attachment_1176\" style=\"width: 990px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1176\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/dev.firepowerdesign.com\/kp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/WTSP.png\" alt=\"White-throated Sparrow foraging in the undergrowth.\" width=\"980\" height=\"653\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1176\" srcset=\"http:\/\/dev.firepowerdesign.com\/kp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/WTSP.png 980w, http:\/\/dev.firepowerdesign.com\/kp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/WTSP-300x200.png 300w, http:\/\/dev.firepowerdesign.com\/kp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/WTSP-768x512.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 980px) 100vw, 980px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-1176\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">White-throated Sparrow foraging in the undergrowth.<\/p><\/div>\n<div id=\"attachment_1172\" style=\"width: 990px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1172\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/dev.firepowerdesign.com\/kp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/purplemartins.png\" alt=\"Purple Martins at Lake Kegonsa State Park.\" width=\"980\" height=\"653\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1172\" srcset=\"http:\/\/dev.firepowerdesign.com\/kp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/purplemartins.png 980w, http:\/\/dev.firepowerdesign.com\/kp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/purplemartins-300x200.png 300w, http:\/\/dev.firepowerdesign.com\/kp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/purplemartins-768x512.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 980px) 100vw, 980px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-1172\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Purple Martins at Lake Kegonsa State Park.<\/p><\/div>\n<div id=\"attachment_1170\" style=\"width: 990px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1170\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/dev.firepowerdesign.com\/kp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/purplemartin2.png\" alt=\"A beautiful male Purple Martin.\" width=\"980\" height=\"653\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1170\" srcset=\"http:\/\/dev.firepowerdesign.com\/kp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/purplemartin2.png 980w, http:\/\/dev.firepowerdesign.com\/kp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/purplemartin2-300x200.png 300w, http:\/\/dev.firepowerdesign.com\/kp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/purplemartin2-768x512.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 980px) 100vw, 980px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-1170\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">A beautiful male Purple Martin.<\/p><\/div>\n<div id=\"attachment_1173\" style=\"width: 990px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1173\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/dev.firepowerdesign.com\/kp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/canadafamily.png\" alt=\"Some Canada Geese started early and already have a family to tend.\" width=\"980\" height=\"653\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1173\" srcset=\"http:\/\/dev.firepowerdesign.com\/kp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/canadafamily.png 980w, http:\/\/dev.firepowerdesign.com\/kp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/canadafamily-300x200.png 300w, http:\/\/dev.firepowerdesign.com\/kp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/canadafamily-768x512.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 980px) 100vw, 980px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-1173\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Some Canada Geese started early and already have a family to tend.<\/p><\/div>\n<div id=\"attachment_1174\" style=\"width: 990px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1174\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/dev.firepowerdesign.com\/kp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/meadowlarksm.png\" alt=\"Meadowlark! I love hearing them sing.\" width=\"980\" height=\"653\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1174\" srcset=\"http:\/\/dev.firepowerdesign.com\/kp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/meadowlarksm.png 980w, http:\/\/dev.firepowerdesign.com\/kp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/meadowlarksm-300x200.png 300w, http:\/\/dev.firepowerdesign.com\/kp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/meadowlarksm-768x512.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 980px) 100vw, 980px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-1174\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Meadowlark! I love hearing them sing.<\/p><\/div>\n<div id=\"attachment_1175\" style=\"width: 990px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1175\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/dev.firepowerdesign.com\/kp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/ring-neck-pheasant.png\" alt=\"Happened across this pretty fellow along a country road. \" width=\"980\" height=\"653\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1175\" srcset=\"http:\/\/dev.firepowerdesign.com\/kp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/ring-neck-pheasant.png 980w, http:\/\/dev.firepowerdesign.com\/kp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/ring-neck-pheasant-300x200.png 300w, http:\/\/dev.firepowerdesign.com\/kp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/ring-neck-pheasant-768x512.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 980px) 100vw, 980px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-1175\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Happened across this pretty fellow along a country road.<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Happy Spring Everyone.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Yes, it comes, eventually. We wait, with some impatience, and then suddenly, it arrives. Here&#8217;s a great excerpt from a poem by John Goethe: LATE WISCONSIN SPRING Snow melts into&hellip; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3KZin-iE","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/dev.firepowerdesign.com\/kp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1156"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/dev.firepowerdesign.com\/kp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/dev.firepowerdesign.com\/kp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/dev.firepowerdesign.com\/kp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/dev.firepowerdesign.com\/kp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1156"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"http:\/\/dev.firepowerdesign.com\/kp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1156\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1179,"href":"http:\/\/dev.firepowerdesign.com\/kp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1156\/revisions\/1179"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/dev.firepowerdesign.com\/kp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1156"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/dev.firepowerdesign.com\/kp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1156"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/dev.firepowerdesign.com\/kp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1156"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}