Garden Beds and Ice Fishing

Well friends, it has been an interesting week here at the Gardener's Roost. There has been snow, rain, more snow, some sun, and we're back to occasional rain. The transitions in the garden have been interesting to watch. The gardens are all snug in their beds, some covered by green 'floating row covers'. Gazing down and overseeing a vegetable bed are the deadheads of the cardoon. They seem to be watching over the covered plants in anticipation of the spring that will soon bring renewed growth.

But look beyond the frozen ground and you can see ice on the lake. And wait! Look closer. The most amazing thing happened. The eagle went ice fishing. It's true. While gazing at the frozen lake, I spied the eagle about to make a diving pass, diving at ice. He swooped and rose, swooped and rose, and then swooped down to a gentle landing on the ice. Once there, he peered down, seeming to yearn for a tasty morsel that lay just beneath the surface. He circled around and around the spot, leaving talon tracks that retraced themselves. He picked at the ice with his beak, appearing frustrated that he couldn’t get at the delicacies that taunted him from below. He hopped, circled, pecked, stopped, studied. Circling around again and again, he finally gave up the quest for whatever caught his watchful eye from beneath the layer of ice.

Sleep well, plants. Good fishing to you, eagles. Spring and new growth—a new cycle of life of every kind—is just a blink away.