meal worms

everyone knows the old axiom that goes, “when it rains, it pours.” the current ‘tucky winter is taking this to extremes, if you ask me. it is cold today, and has been for a few days, but for two or maybe three weeks before that, we experienced a steady, soggy fifty five degree rain that turned even the hilly part of our yard to a swamp. they call this a “mild southern winter.” ‘mild’ here means ‘miserable.’
despite the sogginess, one day amongst those blurred days of rain put me in mind of another axiom. this one goes, “every cloud has a silver lining.” in this case, it was more like a slimy lining composed of earthworms. at least, i assume it was the earthworms driven to the surface by the water that brought the birds.
as i watched the endless drizzle out the corner window of my kitchen, something blue shot through my vision. drawing closer to peer out at the little tree in front of the house, i saw that the blue streak was on of my favorite red breasted blue birds, come to rest on the anchor cable of our light pole. he wasn’t alone. five glorious blue birds sat either in the tree, or on the ground pecking at the juicy morsels driven to the surface. they flitted around, puffed up against the damp chill, like animated sapphires, unaware of their observer inside the window.
after that day, i decided that continuous rain is not totally miserable. the abundance of wriggling gourmet meals on top of the ground has since invited a small flock of robins to my little tree, and, another day, five fantastically bright cardinals. maybe i should fill my bird feeders with worms instead of seeds.