Beltane

 

   It is Beltane, the Eve of May, in the Northern Temperate Zone, when the vegetative world comes back to life and farmers put their flocks and herds out to pasture after the long winter.  My father would let the cows out to grass in the first week of May, after being in the barn since Halloween.  

   It's not the same here in the Tropics at 14* North latitude.  We do share the same "cold" season, but that's all.  Coldest temperatures in December and January might get down to 65* F here in the Central Plains, but it is quickly followed by the Hot Season of April.  I look forward to the Rainy Season and its blocking of the Sun.  Today we had a brief hard rain, but then the Sun came out and the steam rose.  Sauna!  

   My Zebra Dove friends have not come back to nest under the roof of my veranda.  They had successfully hatched four chicks in four consecutive nestings this year, but I think they didn't come back because of the noisy construction work next door, which has scared off a lot of wildlife.  

-Zenwind. 

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