Let us draw inspiration this month from American author, Oliver Herford (1863-1935). Herford is also known for such wry epigrams as “Many are called but few get up,” and “Only the young die good,” but his most sincere and touching contribution was surely this poem, I Heard a Bird Sing:

I heard a bird sing
In the dark of December
A magical thing
And sweet to remember.

“We are nearer to Spring
Than we were in September,”
I heard a bird sing
In the dark of December.

One hopes that winter will be as short and sweet as this verse.

Written by Mike
Mike is a leading authority in the field of standardized test preparation, but he's also a traveler who fully expects to see every bird in the world. Besides founding 10,000 Birds in 2003, Mike has also created a number of other entertaining but now extirpated nature blog resources, particularly the Nature Blog Network and I and the Bird.