Welcome Back to IL

Wind, snow and a big flock of cedar waxwings...

Yellow

Forsythia blooms.

I first saw daffodils blooming as far north as my house on Friday, but all the open ones were right by house foundations.  Perhaps it's slightly warmer there... anyhow, I don't have any daffodils planted right by my foundation, and didn't really want to get that close to someone's house to take a picture for fear they'd think I was fishy and call the police.  SO I waited until today, when I found an open one farther from a home. 

Look how yellow the pussy willow pollen!  And speaking of willows, the weeping willow catkins are starting to appear. 

So it's a yellow day!

Lovely Spring Break Weather

On one warming day...

Violets blooming (started yesterday).  Apparently spring burn season also started yesterday...

Weekend Updates

We came across this garter snake on the trail today... it was pretty chilly so it was moving very slowly (or not at all, until I got pretty close with my phone and it made as if to strike me).  That's my first snake sighting of the season!

I saw these scilla blooming yesterday, and the cornelian cherry dogwood -- which had fat yellow buds all week -- finally flowered on Friday!

photo by Lori B. 

Welcome Sun!

It may be the middle of the night (at the moment of the equinox), but still we welcome the sun back to the northern hemisphere.  Across distance and culture, these special astronomical moments are times to mark and celebrate the season's passage... and at the vernal equinox in particular, a time to look forward in anticipation of new life and light.

Sun, I'm happy to have you back in the northern hemisphere, with your longer days and energizing light.  We emerge from the darkness!
Happy Spring!

Tree Flowers and Gusting Winds

I took this photo yesterday to show how the aspen catkins have progressed from grey puffballs to pendulous flowers that are showing their inner green. 

I noticed this morning that the elms have started flowering.  I don't think I'll get a photo, though, as it's difficult to take pictures of tiny tree flowers (full stop) but it's really difficult when the wind is blowing at over 20 mph with gusts (frequent ones) at over 40 mph.  Twigs won't hold still.

Yeah, today is not my favorite type of weather.  Temperature in the 40s, intermittently rainy, and constantly windy.  But I guess this is the price of spring's arrival.  Over night I was awakened by thunder and lightning at one point, and by high winds -- they were that noisy -- at another point.