First crocus is gold

Here it is, the first crocus of the year. As always a sturdy little yellow one. And I saw other signs of spring today. I went for a walk and saw lots of robins milling about amid the starlings. I went for a drive and saw lots of hawks circling the sky and brooding in […]

Hey buddy

Spring continues to slink closer, skirting around sheets of stubborn ice. Look here: I do believe those are daffodil buds.

Lamp light, faint light

Nice to see the solar lamp is working again. No moving parts will do that, I suppose. I’d forgotten how nice it was to see that little star of light sitting by the door when I go to call the cat in.

Do you believe in melt?

The melt indicator is down. The snow that held it up is gone. Plants that were completely buried in snow and ice for two months are popping up. How can plants that were so buried still be so green? Look at them!

Oblivious snowdrops

The snowdrops are looking much happier today. It always looks to me like little white wings spreading open and taking their ease, so much that “snowdrops spread their wings” sets off a cliché alert. I could swear I’ve used that phrase before, but maybe I always deleted it before. Well, I’m saying it now, just […]

How to look at a snowbank

There are many ways to look at a snowbank.

Ice and Snowdrops

Cold day, cold day, cold day, melty day, cold day. The only sign of spring coming is the sunset rushing later into the day. All of a sudden, it’s bright out at four in the afternoon. But it’s still so icy out, even the snowdrops are droopy.

Hawk buffet

I saw the hawk again today. She’s so big, I make sure I know where the cats are when she shows up. She took off before I got a picture, a beautiful broad-chested bird with black and white bars under her wings. I did get a picture of what’s left of the buffet. Supplies of […]

Melt indicator

The shovel handle I stuck in the snow has turned into a kind of melt indicator. The overall level of snow has gone down a little, but the real indication is how far the handle has tilted. When it finally falls over, maybe then I’ll consider that winter might actually end around here.

Snow breaks

There’s young shoots and snowdrops, and then there’s the ugly things revealed by melting snow. Bad snow! You broke my lilac bush!