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Sat 3 Mar, 2007 12:15 pm
Spring (or fall, depending on your location) will arrive when the sun is directly over the equator. In 2007 this will be on March, 21, 2007 at 8:07 EDT.
Of course every year as the equinox proceeds according to precedent, there are signs and omens of warmth and fertility.
Today I saw a robin--not a member of migrating flock, but a single, industrious robin. I also saw a bluebird--which are rare in the woods.
Yesterday I saw a bleary eyed groundhog blinking at the side of the road.
Outside my window the branches of the trees are beginning to bounce. The sap is rising.
I plunked a sprouting onion in a glass of water, the better to admire the greenery.
Is spring coming to your neck of the woods?
Sort of.
Tell me about the bouncing branches thing, I don't know how that works... (What do they do when they're not bouncy...?)
Yesterday was a glorious springy day -- temperatures were still pretty cold but the sun was warm and the breeze felt like a breeze rather than a lethal weapon. The snow we've had for a very long time finally melted. We went to the park and sozlet got very, very muddy. She enjoys being very, very muddy. (And was wearing her washable Chuck Taylors, so I just had her strip at the door, not a problem.)
Today, though, it's SNOWING -- rather a lot, but not sticking.
There are gelatinous daffodil leaves that sprouted back around Christmas and have been buried in snow for a month or two. New sprouts are coming up though.
Well...the snow is softening...making it easier to widen the driveway to its usual two-car width...I can't wait for spring! (Still cold -- one son has gone ice-fishing.)
Today is gooooorgeous! I was out without a coat and even took off my zip-up for a while. The wheels seperated from garbage bins in the Big Freeze are now starting to reappear.
I'll play along even though we have just survived a blizzard and most of the state has been declared a disaster area. I saw spring in Europe and I believe it will someday arrive on my doorstep in Iowa. I just sent off my subscription to my local CSA for my yearly vegetables. That was an act of faith. I am sooo ready!
No spring here yet. We've got 6 new inches of snow and January temps. I'm more than ready to be done with this stuff, however.
Yesterday in London ...
We aren't as far here, but nearly.
Three/four weeks earlier than usually.
Soz--
Pick a convenient tree--I like the ones outside my computer window where the birds bounce on the boughs waiting for feeder time--and watch the springiness of the branches increase as the days grow longer.
Wasn't the mud cold?
Tai Chi--
The ramparts on both sides of the driveway will be the last to melt.
Littlek--
Good for you.
Swimpy--
Your belief will help pull the sun north.
JPB--
Only 18 more days.
Walter--
Where's Wordsworth? Where's Dorothy Wordsworth?
I just smelled a courting skunk who got dised by one of the established bravos of the neighborhood. The local grocery store has lawn furniture displayed in the foyer. A window cleaner is advertising in the local shopper.
Springiness. Huh. I'll check it out.
The mud was very cold but she was running around gleefully and staying warm. It was mostly feet/ legs anyway, she had on her warm down coat (which also got mud-spattered -- oh well).
The snowmelt + rain had created a temporary pond at the park, she was playing in (!) and on the outskirts of that. Didn't fall, thank goodness, I was expecting that.
Momentarily I'm more fascinated by the moon ...
... than by Dorothy Wordsworth.
Walter--
You are a romantic.
Soz--
You get a Gold Star for Indulgent Motherhood.
I'm glad that Soz and Gravity ignored your expectations.
Still waiting for this (crocus) to appear.
Jes--
Doesn't your ice have to melt first?
Actually, all the early spring bulbs come equipped with a little chemical factory that makes enough heat so that they can melt a path up to the sun through snow and ice.
The Equinox has special meaning at our house. Hubby and I met each other on the first day of Spring. It's an anniversary for us.
March 20, 1981...26 years, what a ride!
Noddy24 wrote:Jes--
Doesn't your ice have to melt first?
Actually, all the early spring bulbs come equipped with a little chemical factory that makes enough heat so that they can melt a path up to the sun through snow and ice.
Oops, yeah. A gal can dream, though.
Eva -- congratulations!
Seventeen days.
Something is blooming in my neighborhood. For the second day in a row, I've woken up with a runny, drippy nose and had to break out the allergy pills before my morning tea.
On Saturday (3/3)We had our first of the seasonal "mud auctions" in the Lancaster County area. These are benefit auctions for the rural fire companies. Its a huge local event , full of people we hadnt seen since late December and all kinds of goods for sale and auction. It was a sea of Amish straw hats, and there was a pickup game of "cornerball" being played by the young Amish men.
We bought a quilt for a gift and ate junk food. All the way home we could see the evidence of the tips of tree branches turning red and skunk cabbages in the swampy areas. An eagle pair is building a nest near Octoraro Lake and robins and bluebirds are back. The goldfinches are starting to show their brighter colors. Yep, not too long any more.
Started my onion , redbeets and parsley seeds. ( I like to transplant red beets and seed started onions always keep better).
Missed the darn eclipse. It was cloudy on Sat night.
Farmerman--
Have you noticed that goldfinches turn gold at the same time daffodils are opening?
Your goldfinches are different to
ours, right?
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