The first flowers of spring are not like the showy displays of mid-summer. One has to know where to look to see them. In sunny corners, bunches of snowdrops spring up from under mats of last year's brown leaves, their snowy-white heads drooping shyly. Crocuses, those true harbingers of spring, appear suddenly in fallow beds or in the midst of slowly-greening lawns. Their bright yellow and purple and white flowers are the very colors of spring.
We have seen robins in the yard, and are delighted to hear their familiar song both mornings and evenings. The goldfinches on our feeder seem to have changed the color of their feathers overnight from dirty brown to a brilliant yellow. The male birds fight in ascending spirals with a great deal of flapping and chirping before flying off in opposite directions.
The Tribe won the home opener, and there wasn't even a hint of snow on the ground or in the forecast. This year for sure, eh? Spring has finally come to northeast Ohio, and it is more than welcome.
2 comments:
i, too, have eagerly been watching for signs of spring! fortunately, they come to us here early, since we're a bit further south and near to the bay. driving through the neighborhoods i've been seeing crocuses, daffodils, and hyacinths for a little while, and today saw some tulips open. (i wonder how the skunk cabbage is doing!) a month or so ago i started to see calves in with the herds of cows on the farms i drive by, and i'm starting to see people working in the fields. when i drive through the forest on hagley's grounds, on the way to do research, i can hear tons of different birds in the trees, at last! the azaleas and forsythias have opened now, and the cherry trees and magnolias are really taking off.
in fact, andrew and i spent our day today down in D.C., enjoying the cherry blossoms and the beautiful weather (and mostly avoiding the festival). it was actually gusty and colder than expected--and colder than when we came when i was little--but we had a wonderful day! got to see the jefferson memorial, which i'm not sure we walked all the way out to when we came back then, and we also checked out the (large!) one for fdr.
good way to spend a spring afternoon, no? hope you start to see more signs of spring, and get some seasonable weather soon, too! take that rufus out in it!
I'm glad you guys took a day off to drive down to D.C. It has probably been 20 years now since we took you and Tom to see the cherry blossoms. It was unseasonably warm that year.
Little by little, spring returns.
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