Flowers are on the way (after the last winter storms), and in the loft the males are cooing and bowing and following the hens with great persistence!  Eggs are appearing in all the nests and a few tiny yellow chicks peek from beneath the warm breasts of the parents.  I love springtime!  It is a renewal of life and love, a chance to watch and be part of the miracle that is this earth.  The little yellow chicks grow so fast and soon a few pin feathers appear, and then fully opened feathers, and then they venture from the shelf to feel their first flight.  The parents hover and follow them to the floor, and continue to feed them until at last they are grown and flying into the sky to awe crowds with their beauty. 

It is hard not to be anthropomorphic.  And indeed, that is part of the fun. All of my children are grown and off to start their own lives.  They still retreat to the nest occasionally, but then they leap out again to test their wings.  I watch the parents in the loft with some longing for the time when I cuddled my babes, and I always marvel at the first flights into the blue sky.  With the doves, I watch for hawks and smile at the wonder of their beauty.