Swallows Arrive

Whether early spring finds us in France or Vermont I know the season has started in earnest when the swallows arrive. Suddenly there is a day when the sun has a new strength. There is a certain stillness to the air. Small hints that today might be the day that the swallows appear for another season. My hearing pricks with each new bird song. And then I hear it, that small trrrp trrrp. My heart stops. They’re here, they’re here! Their playful darting movements give them away against the blue sky. I feel every dip and dive of their wings, the joy of playing on the soft air. How far they have traveled. What a sense of freedom and adventure they share.