January doesn’t exactly call to you. It’s easy to zone out in the numbness of these dull, dreary days. And sometimes the look of January is hardly enough to make me look up. But the sounds out there, they still work.
It’s a quiet mid-afternoon, and I try to convince myself it’s peaceful. But the mood is more like melancholy. Trees and what’s left of plants look like they’re scarcely holding on. It’s a still cold quiet void. Quiet and gray. My spirit too.
Yet, if you hang around the quiet long enough, there’s more than silence.
A subtle rippling, just audible. Water moving over stones and around bends. Gentle enough to make singular tones. Soothing, like listening from another room, while a friend strums the guitar. Slowly picking, one string at at time.
Then the chirps. Tiny chirps. Jays and towhees. Cardinals, for sure. Their winter tones are sweet and relaxed now. Comfortable, less commanding, less stressed, almost purposeless. Not the loud complicated spring show-off mating songs or the summer alarms and calls. It’s soft and gentle. As if they’re going about life, hunting the brush for a meal or snack, and mindlessly humming.
There’s been too much gray. Too much cloudy. I’d rather have snow. But we get comfort where we can. And January brings a quiet comfort. If nothing else, it brings quiet. Quiet intersecting lonely intersecting reassurance. A kind of hushed reassurance.
etikser 
We have snow and on days like today we have cold and blue skies with frost on all the trees. But tomorrow the forecast is for grey skies. But at least we had today!
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Yes! Sounds beautiful.
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I think of January as a restful time, a time to regroup, a forced slow down – before everything gears up again.
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That’s a good outlook.
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January in Maine is actually beautiful with its brilliant blue skies, bare trees, pointed for, and snow. At least you have cardinals for a burst of red.
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That sounds beautiful! And I can tell by your pictures. It’s only the beginning of January, and I’m hopeful the snow will fall sometime this winter.
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Fingers crossed for you!
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Very beautiful, thoughts and photograph. I am joyfully surprised at how often we see similar things. I watch the cardinals and other birds daily. I took a photo just like this myself yesterday afternoon. Take care ☺️
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Thank you so much. That’s good to hear. The birds usually fly away before I get a picture, but that cardinal perched there for awhile. You take care too.
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Thank you 😊
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Reassurance is good!! Nice post.
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Thank you!
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When a cardinal chirps to you it is a kiss from someone on the other side.
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A lovely thought! Cardinals bring such bright wonderful color in the middle of winter. Thanks.
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Very nice post!
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Thank you!
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Lovely.
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Thank you
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