A birdie with a yellow bill

Robin comes to tea
acrylic on canvas
8 x 8 inches
(not quite finished)

People who poo poo (say it isn't so) global warming frequently
site days like today as an example. Imagine saying in a
not especially bright voice, (hard I know) "Global warming?
Give me a break!" or "So much for global warming."
Those of us with at least as much brain power
as the bird I'm featuring today know that erratic weather
is one of the signs of climate change.

Plus the predicted snow we were supposed to have today,
but didn't, is not that unusual in April. What is unusual,
and apparently one sign of global warming, is that the birds
are confused by the aberrant fluctuations in weather, and
are appearing both earlier in the year, and later in the fall
than was the norm even five years ago. Steven saw robins
in the park early in February -- flocks of them. Sorry
folks, but that ain't right.

Still I know why we don't want to know. For one thing
it's cheering to see robins, as long as they can somehow
stay warm enough. I am crazy about the birds. So
today I did a little painting of one visiting a sunny
outdoor table. I'd love it if they were more friendly,
but I'm also delighted to see them where they belong,
singing their hearts out in our cherry tree.

My mother used to wake me up in the morning with
this poem.

Time to rise
by Robert Louis Stevenson,
from A Child's Garden of Verses

A birdie with a yellow bill
Hopped upon the window sill
Cocked his shining eye and said:
"Ain't you 'shamed, you sleepy-head?"

Have a holding-the-earth-in-your-hand-in-wonder day.