Sale on canvas prints! Use code ABCXYZ at checkout for a special discount!
April 8th, 2009
Spring may have officially arrived at 7:44 a.m. EDT last March 20th, but it takes the news a while to reach my neck of the woods. We are early in losing our snow cover this year, though. The total snowfall at my house measured only about 88 inches this winter This is substantially less than last year.
My eyes are hungry for green at this point. I walked through the woods yesterday with my eyes on the ground, looking for green things growing. I saw a lot of woodfern, which is evergreen. The mosses are green now, too, having emerged from under the snow. The haircap moss is particularly bright. The daffodils near the house have started to poke their noses above the dried leaves, but I haven't seen any of my local wildflowers showing yet. At this rate, it won't be long.
April 4th, 2009
Swift River Journal
I keep a journal of jottings about the comings and goings of my closest neighbors: the birds, wildlife, and plants here in the Swift River valley. I will be adding entries often, so come back and see what is new in my neck of the woods. I will also add information about art that I am working on and what I am thinking about it.
Here is today's news flash:
THE ROBINS HAVE ARRIVED! Today was the first day I heard a robin calling in the distance. Then later in the afternoon I saw a pair of them on a popple tree near our house. ("Popple" is the local name for poplar, or aspen.) According to Edwin Way Teale in his book North with the Spring, the robins follow the 35 degree isotherm north. It is hard to believe that our ground is thawed enough for a worm to make headway in it, but I guess these robins will find something else to eat until it gets a little warmer.
I also found the first pussywillows open today, so I can really believe that spring is here now. The mountainsides look piebald now, brown and white, with the snow halfway melted and bare ground showing.
To all of you who live farther south and have progressed to azaleas, green leaves, and gardens, enjoy it! And sniff a flower for me. It will be a while yet until we see anything blooming here.
