Last Day of Winter

With record snowfall in Boston and two feet of snow (to say nothing of the snowbanks) still in our front yard, it seems like we’re still in early February. But we’re not. It’s the last day of winter, and it's cold, only fitting to mark the end of a long and difficult one.

The phone rings. It’s my friend on the Cape.

“The red-winged blackbirds are back!” Lately she has been feeding a lonely robin frozen raspberries each day (thawing them first).  She recently spotted a Yellow Rumped Warbler in her yard, and later in the day she forwards me several photos of two young ravens who were begging food scraps outside a Cape restaurant.

After a winter of epic storms, record snows and polar vortex incursions, I am ecstatic to hear more tangible news of spring. The return of the red-winged blackbirds is a reassurance to me that spring may actually arrive after all.

From about the first of January, I mark the passing of winter, celebrating each small victory, like the sky is light at 5pm, sunset after 5pm, double digits of January and then February. I take a deep breath at mid-winter and start counting the days until it’s officially over.

For me, the birds are the ultimate harbinger of the changing seasons. I’m a musician, so I guess sound is my most attuned sense. So I listen. At first the birds are dead silent in January, but by mid-February, the cardinals, the song sparrows and even the finches are singing up a storm, celebrating the expanding daylight.

This winter of winters, the other usual markers have been hidden under feet and feet of snow. No crocus tips around Valentine’s Day, no snowdrops, no perking up of the Lenten Rose, nothing.

So it’s been all about the birds.

I keep a diary, kind of a journal each winter, tracking the snows and the temperatures and also, the signs of spring. Started in the winter of 2004-5, I now have ten years of data on these things. And so when my friend called with the news of the red-winged blackbirds, I looked back through the years and found my entry from 2009.

“3/18/2009 – 60 degrees (!)  Windy. Heard some red-winged blackbirds in the wetlands off Cushing Street, walking with Gwen. Lots of crocuses, started yesterday.”

Then the entry just below it…

“3/26/09 – Red-winged blackbirds – and a full robin’s song!”

So perhaps we’re not so far off track overall, the depth of snow notwithstanding.

But will the birds on the Cape come north when there is such snow cover? Perhaps they’ll wait for the warm temperatures to come north with a warm front, kicking the Polar Vortex north into Canada.

At least, I know they are on their way. It won’t be long now.

But then there is the entry from 2013 – the end of March.

“Many snowfalls later, it’s almost all melted now. Crocuses are up, daffs coming. Robins have been singing for about a week. It’s a slow-arriving coolish spring so far. Ponds and lakes high. On the first day of spring, we were getting more snow!”

It’s almost over, whether it’s one day or two weeks. We have endured, and like the lonely robin in my friend's yard, we just need to hang on a little while longer. For very soon, we’ll be rewarded with springtime glory.

Birdsong Before the Blizzard

So here we are with 34 days until the first day of spring. We in Boston have had three, or is it four, big snowstorms, and we are waiting for another one to start after midnight tonight. It will be a blizzard until the morning.

One of my favorite rituals at this time of year is to start listening to birdsong recordings. Having lost my favorite cassette from the 1990's, I found this beauty on Youtube. It runs for four hours and includes the calls of a wood thrush, my favorite birdsong in the world. I posted about the Wood Thrush last year in fact. How wonderful that folks are posting such beautiful things on Youtube.

So as I wait for the blizzard, with large cooking pots filled with water in case we lose power, I can dream of spring.

Good Luck with Your January

We have exactly 28 days, four full weeks, of January ahead of us. In coastal New England, while January is definitely our coldest month; the snowiest months follow. And even if February and March are snowy, January to me is like a deep dark chasm that must be crossed each year. We are standing on a rope bridge, creeping across it, enduring its challenges of cold and darkness, one day at a time. Not many cultural events are planned in January due to the fickle weather. So there is time for writing, thinking, and all manner of indoor projects. Our local AAUW branch has a wonderful tradition. We meet for a pot luck supper luck followed by a book discussion, on a cold night right in the middle of January. This year we are discussing An Unseemly Wife by E.B. Moore, and the author will join us. By month's end, the sun sets around 5PM again, proof that we've endured the toughest part of winter. So, may you pass January with good books, engrossing indoor projects, ways to enjoy being outside, and opportunities to see good friends. May it pass quickly.  How do you traverse Januarys?

Legends of the Fire Spirits by Robert Lebling

While doing research for a novel set in Fez, Morocco (and yes it involves jinn), I came across Rob Lebling's excellent book, LEGENDS OF THE FIRE SPIRITS: JINN AND GENIES FROM ARABIA TO ZANZIBAR.
Amazon listing for the book

LEGENDS OF THE FIRE SPIRIT is a fascinating compendium that gives the reader a multi-faceted view of the jinn. It covers many centuries of lore and history, tracing origins of the jinn in mythology and religion. It does a great service in delving into how the jinn appear in Islam, and then introduces the reader to the jinn legends through specific countries in the Middle East, from Morocco to Turkey and Iran. In addition, it traces how jinn have been written about in western literature.

Personally my favorite part of the book is the transcription of an interview with a jinn, as well as the specific descriptions of the various jinn of Morocco. And then there's the wonderful foreward by author Tahir Shah.
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Whether you are curious about paranormal beings, or are interested in the topic of jinn specifically, I recommend this book. It is full of detail and covers a wide range of topics, reflecting years of dedicated research by Lebling. This book is truly a labor of love.  Lebling maintains a facebook page in which he updates people on news of the jinn. Legends of the Fire Spirits Facebook Page

When I wrote to him about how the book was doing, he responded,

". The book has done well for such a specialized topic. The UK hardcover edition has sold out, I think, and it went into paperback there last March. There is still a US paperback edition in print by Counterpoint. I think jinn lore is on the verge of going viral.... there have been a few horror films on the subject over recent years. The ScyFy channel was interested in doing a documentary on jinn phenomena, and contacted me shortly after publication, but they shelved the idea for the time being.... I think people are always looking for new concepts to expand their imaginations. Vampires and zombies have done the job. Maybe jinn are next!"

Lebling has also published a novel of the paranormal set in Saudi Arabia. The title is THE ANOMALY: A Novel of the Empty Quarter - you can read it on his blog - here is the link to Chapter One. He is planning to publish it as an e-book once the serial version has been published (the story is complete - he's just doling it out on his blog as a serial). He also has a couple of novels in progress including a post-industrial fantasy set in Arabia.

One of Rob's other interests culminated in his work, NATURAL REMEDIES OF ARABIA. Here is a link to the book on Amazon.com

Rob Lebling and feathered falcon friend - somehwere in Saudi Arabia

I don't know Rob personally, but we both write for Saudi Aramco World magazine. He has a wide range of interests that he shares with readers through his blog, his books and his features in Saudi Aramco World. He currently lives in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia and works in public affairs for Sadara Chemical Co., a jv between Dow Chemical and Saudi Aramco.

Wood Thrush Serenade

Readers of this blog know I'm a bird-call fanatic. I can name them all, like the instruments in an orchestra. But there is one bird's call that is above the rest; the call of the Wood Thrush. This summer we have one in our neighborhood. He or she sings in the evening and in the early morning. In the mornings it has been blissful to wake up to the serenade. I can scarcely believe we are being treated to these concerts each day. We have our windows open and the song begins even as we are sleeping. It is so special to me to hear this song; one of nature's most amazing gifts.

Henry David Thoreau wrote this about the Wood Thrush, in 1853, "This is the only bird whose note affects me like music. It lifts and exhilarates me. It is inspiring. It changes all hours to an eternal morning." In his journals he wrote, "The wood thrush is a preacher who "makes a sabbath out of a week day." I agree completely.

Here is a Wood Thrush singing at the Mount Auburn Cemetery near Boston.

2014 Arab Dance Seminar Filling Up Fast

This November's Arab Dance Seminar is already 75% full. Why? Because we have the added boost of Aisha Ali as an instructor. One of the pioneering dance ethnologists who traveled to Egypt in the early 1970's, Aisha recorded and filmed Egyptian folk dancers and produced an LP of their music. She is an authority on dance in Egypt. Second reason: the topic is THE DANCE OF POLITICS : How Politics, The Law, and Social Codes Affect Dance in the Arab World.
The seminar will run from November 7-9, 2014 and takes place in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Join us, it promises to be an amazing weekend! If you are at all interested, act fast because it always sells out very quickly.

A link to the website, where you can register, is here.

Haydn Sunrise

The final weeks of this tough winter have been a challenge for all. The other day I needed a pick-me-up while running errands so I popped a CD into the car. It has become a favorite of mine in the last couple of years. It features big orchestral pieces by Mozart, Gluck and Michael Haydn using the so-called Alla Turca style... with lots of oboes, clarinets, cymbals, triangles, kettle drums, military marches and instrumental ornaments. The most famous of this genre is Mozart's overture to his opera, Abduction from the Seraglio.

Each time I listen to this CD, I love it more. The sheer bravado and joy, and the wake-you-from-the-dead energy gets my blood pumping.

One piece is different from the others. It is a slow 4/4 - not really a march, but it has the pace of a person walking. Hearing it, you can easily imagine yourself taking part in a deeply profound processional. It reminds me of the glory of the sunrise - and the wondrous transition from winter to spring. The same simple theme repeats with increasingly dramatic variations. It is inexorable and ultimately triumphant. So this morning it was amazing to waken from my sleep hearing it play in my head. It was as if my brain decided to wake me up with this musical treat and to remind me that spring is coming. With every hour it gets closer.

The piece is by Michael Haydn. It is the Andante Adagio movement from the compositions he wrote for Voltaire's Opera, "Zaire" in 1771. Michael Haydn was Joseph Haydn's younger brother. Michael was known for his sacred music compositions.

Try as I might, I couldn't find any recording of the piece on-line to share here. It can be heard on the CD entitled "Alla Turca" put out by Collegium Aureum and can be found on Amazon. It seems to have become a collector's item; the prices for used CD's range up toward $200! If you can find it in your local library, the track is #6, and it's the second movement, which I think is "Andante Adagio".

Link to "Alla Turca" CD