It’s not just a day for moms on our human calendars. It’s a big week–a month, actually, for moms all over our Hill Country homestead. This whitetail doe brought her fawn for us to see, while the two of them enjoy a morning browse through the fresh vegetation. Another doe brought her fawn to the south meadow, where he tried out his brand-new legs, racing in joyful circles around his mother.
And much more. The cottontail rabbits tuck three or four baby bunnies into a nest the size of a soup bowl beside the fence in the backyard. Mom and dad rabbit are so tame that Molly (our heeler and fierce guardian of her territory) no longer bothers to chase them. To us, they are special. To her, they are just part of the scenery.
The raccoon has a burrow under Deuteronomy, the old live oak on the other side of the creek. If this is a typical year, she might have as many as a half-dozen kits down there. The possums breed during most of the year; once, when we were camping out here, we found a joey (a baby possum) in our bed!
And there are the birds. A pair of wrens have set up housekeeping in a tin-can nest outside the window of my writing studio. At last count, they had four tiny, speckled eggs. The cardinals’ nest is a twiggy cup tucked into a dogwood beside the creek. The hen turkeys that were courted by their splendidly fantailed toms have all disappeared to sit on clutches of a dozen or so large brown eggs, while their forlorn toms are reduced to displaying their fantails to one another. The hummingbirds’ nests are beautifully crafted but impossibly small, as this photo from Birds and Blooms demonstrates.
And I opened my email to find that my son Bobby had sent this sweet reminder that no matter how tiny or how crowded or how muddy our nests may be, they are overflowing with love. Happy Mother’s Day to all who have ever built a nest and nurtured a child there.
Hi Karen, It must be very hard for you. Please keep your spirits up. This won’t last forever.
Belated Happy Mother’s Day to you Susan. So nice to read about the babies on your homestead. We are enjoying watching the birds in our yard. We have a Blue Heron that likes to come by. Very big bird! We are beginning our 11th week of isolation here and are very grateful for the people who are making it possible for us to stay-at-home. My heart goes out to the families who have lost their loved ones to this terrible virus. Please stay safe and healthy!
Tthank you for the pictures and your lovely post. Happy Mothers Day to you and to all the other mothers out there. I think this spring showsmus that Nature can recover and be glorious if we take the message from the changes that occurred whe people were confinced and nature allowed to be free.
Thank you so much for you beautiful posting and pictures. It was a gloomy, snowy day in Minnesota and you brought joy and hope for the future. Warm regards Ruth
This is balm for my heart. Thank you.
Thank you for reminding us that the cycle of renewal that nature displays can be a comfort in trying times.
Thank you for this beautiful post! Happy Mothers Day to YOU!
Thank you, Susan, for this post.
The picture of the hummingbird nest is amazing!
The picture of the hummingbird nest is amazing!
It’s early, 4:45am, in my Texas Hill Country this Mother’s Day. Remembering my mama, looking through saved & lovely cards received through the years and waiting for the birds to greet the day. Thank you for the pictures of Meadow Knoll. It’s without saying this place is precious to you. Yes, Happy Mother’s Day to all of us, no matter who we mother.
Happy Mother’s Day and thanks for the lovely message and sharing of your Nature mothers. I have a mamma robin who built her nest on top of the pole at the edge of our patio. So I can watch from the inside and see her babes. We just moved last fall and had lots of birds at the old house. Here there are not as many trees and we will have to build up our menagerie. I do have a baby rabbit and a momma. They never appear at the same time. Not sure they are related. We had a freeze last night 29 degrees. Ouch.
Thanks, Susan, for your postings. We look forward to each one of them. It’s wonderful being a mom, even if your “children” have kids of their own. Love and health from The Hill Country.
As always you rejuvenate my spirit which is so weary these days. I am grateful. Hilary
Thank you for sharing. What a wonder story for this particular spring. I especially enjoyed the hummingbird nest.
Susan–Thank you for the foretaste of spring.Today my daffodils were being whipped by intermittent snow squalls! But that didn’t stop the robin from bobbin’ across the lawn.
I love getting your posts, and this one was especially nice because I am currently quarantined here in Chicago in a one-bedroom apartment with no balcony, so I have very little contact with the outside. Our parks and walks are all closed, so that isn’t an option. So seeing the lovely pictures and reading your writing made me feel as though there really is spring out there. Happy Mother’s Day to you.
Happy Mother’s Day! I especially loved the picture of your baby bunnies – so sweet!
Happy Mother’s Day to you Susan and all the Mothers here !!!!! It is going to be a beautiful day to sit outside and enjoy some special treats and nature.
Beautiful post. Thank you. Here in Oakland, CA I get possums, raccoons, skunks and sometimes wild turkeys by my house. I know there are coyotes in the woods and hills. I am glad it is more peaceful for the original inhabitants.
Amy
Happy Mother’s Day to you, Susan. Loved your beautiful musing about all the mothers around Meadow Knoll. How wonderful it must be to be able to witness all that. Thank you for all the joy your books bring to me. You make this world a better place.
What a beautiful post. Thank you.
This is such a beautiful post, Susan. And what an incredible wealth of God-gifts your beautiful land nurtures! Deer, raccoons, opossums, and skunks (the faunas 🙂 ) here — haven’t seen any rabbits, but I’m sure they’re around and about. I’m going to try to share this with a woman I know down in the Eugene/Cottage Grove (OR) area. They recently were surprised to find four wild turkeys, two hens and two toms, parading up their long gravel/dirt driveway. According to Jami, they’ve decided to stay and have been asserting their not so docile manners! Wild turkeys can be mean! But at least they had the manners to enter using the driveway, LOL. Love the cartoon your son sent. It’s a keeper — him, too. Happy Mother’s Day!