Given our recent April weather, we are sure to be buried in May Flowers. Along with the migration of amphibians and returning birds, our forests’ spring ephemeral wildflowers will soon appear and are well worth seeking out. For those of you interested in learning more about these Signs of Spring, we have a variety of field guides including “The Second Atlas of Breeding Birds of Vermont” edited by Rosalind Renfrew, and the much smaller and more portable “Wildflowers of Vermont” by Kate Carter. If you can’t wait to get out in the garden to help mother nature out, “Roots, Shoots, Buckets and Boots” by Sharon Lovejoy is a great guide for families. Filled with whimsical illustrations and easy instructions for gardens like “snacking and sipping” and “the flowery maze”, this book is a good escape from our current conditions.
April is also National Poetry Month, which was started in 1996 by the American Academy of Poets and is now one of the world’s largest literary celebrations. Their website www.poets.org gives you a plethora of ways to bring some of this art form into your life, including signing up for “poem-a-day” featuring both new and classic poetry with commentary on weekdays by the poets. On Thursday, April 26th put a poem in your pocket, carry it with you and share it with others throughout “Poem in your Pocket” day. We also have a small but interesting section of poetry including work by Rupi Kaur, Marie Howe, David Budbill, Emily Dickinson, Robert Frost, Walt Whitman, and a great collection of local poems in “Brighten the Barn: 60th Anniversary Anthology” from the Poetry Society of Vermont.
Our upcoming Spring programs kick-off with our annual Birding by Ear workshops co-hosted with the Mad Birders. During the first interactive session indoors on Saturday, May 5th at 4pm learn some tips and tricks for listening to and identifying our feathered friends, then head out in the early morning for our second session on Sunday, May 6th at 7:30am to practice and discover. You can also join the Mad Birders on a bonus birding by ear walk on Thursday, May 10th starting at 6:30am. On Thursday, May 17th at 6:30pm at the Moretown School our very own assistant librarian Meredith Whitney will present “Sneaky Pest: The Emerald Ash Borer”. This invasive insect has recently been confirmed here in Vermont, so come learn to identify the emerald ash borer and ash trees, recognize the signs and symptoms of the insect, and know the protocol for reporting it when/if you should find one. And join local scientist Dan Zucker for “Stephen Hawking’s Work in a Nutshell” on Sunday, May 20th at 6:30pm at the Moretown School for a lay-person’s survey of this legendary scientist’s many contributions to the fields of Physics and Cosmology. We hope to see you at the library soon!
Moretown Memorial Library 