A surprise on a wintry day

I have an interesting story to share today! At least, it's interesting to me and I imagine it will be to many of my readers who live in or have lived in northern New England. On Wednesday, I was working at my sewing desk, which is positioned in the dormer window of our bedroom. This window looks out on our tall wild apple tree. There are several dozen apples still hanging from the branches. They are a dark russet color now and some are frosted with caps of snow.

As I glanced out at the apple tree and admired its wintry beauty, I noticed a bird swooping down to nibble on one of the frozen apples. "Probably a blue jay," I guessed, noting that it was a fairly large bird. What a surprise! The bird was a robin! I tried hard to get a good picture of it through the window, as I knew I would need proof that I had seen a robin in January. I did manage to snap a couple of photos with the robin in them, but it is not clear. If you look closely, you may see the robin near the top right side of the photo in the last tree to the right.

The robin returned yesterday and I have seen it again today.

It made me think of this little poem by Oliver Herford:

I heard a bird sing
In the dark of December.
A magical thing
And sweet to remember.

'We are nearer to Spring
Than we were in September,"
I heard a bird sing
In the dark of December.

I certainly never expected to see a robin in January. I've heard that there are some robins now who do not fly south, but I never expected there would be any of them wintering this far north in New England.

It was a neat reminder to me of God's care for all of His creatures. Even more, it reminded me that even in the midst of dark, wintry circumstances in our lives, God is with us, caring for us and providing for us.