Today was another one of those beautiful spring days- upper 60’s to lower 70’s all day, blue skies, sunny. Just perfect. I love this time of year. The birds are back and we’re in that two week phase where everything goes from brown and gray and explodes into green and yellow.
I like to take a drive every day this time of year just to survey the daily changes. It starts with the daffodils and the forsythia, then the grass gets more and more lush and the trees start to grow leaves, and the empty hills have a shock of white from the dogwoods which is slowly overcome with the dark green of the forest.
The air is sweeter, too, and I get to sleep with the windows open and wake up feeling truly rested. The best time of year.
There have been a lot of birds in my oaks and maple I planted out front, so yesterday I went and bought ferns to hang on the front porch so my birb families will come back to and have a nice B&B to raise their families in. I’m even going to move a feeder from the back yard to the front, because I think the deer are done coming into town for a while (athough if they do and disturb the feeders, that’s ok, too, and it would partially be my fault from all the bags of discount apples I have bought this year and thrown in the yard for thm to eat) as there is enough to forage in the woods now.
Just the best.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
Where I live, which isn’t too far from you Cole, and I agree. The trees have just bloomed in the last few days and it’s getting into the upper 70s now. Beautiful time of year when it’s nice. Sometimes though, the weather can be really bipolar this time of year. I think last week there was a brief cold snap
Jim, Foolish Literalist
They think The Willow Is Too Close To The House, Too?
KRK
Who are you and what have you done with our curmudgeonly bloghost?
Also…yes, spring is the best.
Lord Fartdaddy (Formerly, Mumphrey, Smedley Darlington Mingobat, et al.)
Yes. I try hard every year to really take note of the changes this time of year. The first things are crocuses and willow trees leafing out. Those are what tell me that better times are coming. Then I get to watch all the other little things that happen in their turn.
Today was perfect. Spent most of it outside.
Ken
I love the spring flowering trees. Dogwoods and redbuds are starting now, lilacs will be along soon.
Cheryl Rofer
The cats and I are now going out every day. No more requests from them and then refusal to allow the harnesses on when I open the door a crack to let them see what it’s like. We go out some during the winter, but now they are eager to go out. Zooey saw the first lizard of the year yesterday, but it was on the other side of the fence.
L85NJGT
You don’t get Yogi and Boo-Boo bashing open the bird feeders?
cain
“Old man causes global warming with daily trips”
More seriously, yes it’s nice to see life returning and the weather getting warm. But not today – today is rainy and in the lower 50s. Yesterday it was in the 70s. Oregon continues to tease. It better be nice tomorrow – social distancing at a winery with friends (who are all vaccinated) but not me.
cain
@Cheryl Rofer:
I need buy another harness for the other cat and take the critters out. I have my eye on a smaller dog that I’m hoping to foster and if a good fit to make permanent. But the dog will have to face the black panthers of doom who spend a lot of time either trying to intimidate me or the iRobot when it’s running. What can I say? It’s a jungle out there.
sdstarr
Northwest spring is all about daylight. The weather in April is not really that different than the weather in December, but the streetlights aren’t coming on at 3:00 p.m.
gwangung
Georgia tried to pass a law against Rodgers and Hammerstein’s You’ve Got To Be Carefully Taught.
It was a bill outlawing any philosophy inspired by Moscow. They considered the play to be pro Communist propaganda.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@gwangung: Now that I’ve started up long walks again, I’ve finally gotten around to listening to Ari Berman’s Give Us The Ballot. Two things are jumping out at me that resonate today: “Communism” means “anything I don’t like!”, and yeah, the Georgia law is Jim Crow Jr. Or as Rev William Barber says, “Mr James Crow, Esq”
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@Ken:
Same. I have two Cleveland Pear trees in my backyard and they’re absolutely beautiful
Dan B
There’s a weak La Nina that’s making the Jet Stream swoop far south in the west bringing chilly weather with some breaks. The peas we planted two weeks ago surrounded by wall-o-waters are unimpressed. But what’s in bloom stays in bloom for weeks. The cats even care, spending more time inside on days that are warmer than winter when they were mesmerized by the tiniest gnat.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
I saw on the Twitters the GA GOP being called the Klan in Three-Piece Suits. Yup.
What burns me up are the morons complaining about “neoliberalism” amid all of this. Funny how these Rose Twitter/Tankie types never talk about racist voter suppression
randy khan
One of the good things about the Current Situation (not that there are many) is that because I’m working at home I take my breaks by walking around my lovely neighborhood. And both last year and this year it has been wonderful to watch the woods and yards emerge from the winter doldrums. It’s really made me appreciate spring even more.
StringOnAStick
I’m so enjoying our first spring here in OR. Our house was neglected inside and out for 15years so my landscaping toiling is significant. The house interior got taken care of over the winter. I’ve reconstructed two raised border beds with lichen covered basalt blocks, and there’s plenty more to do but the perfect cool temperatures are making the hard labor so much easier and I’m enjoying bringing the landscape back to a state of beauty. I’m enjoying seeing neighbours stop and point at the changes with smiles.
hrprogressive
The banner at the top initially said “What a Long Fucking Year This Has Been” when I read this, and I chortled.
Old man smells the fresh spring air, indeed.
Mike in NC
Living in the DC area for 20 years, nothing was better than going to see the cherry blossoms blooming by the Jefferson Memorial.
dmbeaster
For me as a Southern Californian, Spring is about the ideal time to visit the desert in all its glory. Its a flower sparse year due to substandard rain this year, but the desert is still wonderful. Went to Saline Valley hot springs last weekend, which had been closed for a year due to Covid, and just reopened (its in a remote part of Death Valley NP, one of my favorite destinations — went twice this year). https://www.ultimatehotspringsguide.com/saline-hot-springs.html
Was in Anza Borrego in January. Love Spring, but its so different from back east — I grew up in Ohio.
Alison Rose
I love Spring, too. My favorite season. Unfortunately, we only get about two weeks of it before it’s like HA HA SUMMERTIME BITCH WELCOME TO HELL FOR THE NEXT EIGHT MONTHS.
(Literally, since we basically also get no Autumn and Winter doesn’t actually start until maybe January. I hate climate change.)
Pete Downunder
Here in Queensland we don’t really do seasons – other than we seem to have fire season followed by flood season. It’s autumn now with temps ranging from low 70s to high 70s. The saying is that weather here is beautiful one day perfect the next. I don’t miss snow at all.
Pete Downunder
Here in Queensland we don’t really do seasons – other than we seem to have fire season followed by flood season. It’s autumn now with temps ranging from low 70s to high 70s. The saying is that weather here is beautiful one day perfect the next. I don’t miss snow at all.
Gary K
For a change of pace from my hometown bike trail, I decided to drive into the next county and pedal along theirs. It was also a chance to check out, along the way, the gravesite of Paul Lynde, center square of the Hollywood Squares. He’s buried in the Ohio town where he grew up, a tiny place. In fact it seems there are more people under the ground there than above it. The Lyndes have side-by-side identical pink stones, each carrying three names, and judging by the dates it seems they were 6 siblings.
The trail was gorgeous, with the Kokosing River winding alongside it, occasionally passing under. At my starting point, just at the foot of Kenyon College, they have a locomotive, flat car, box car, and caboose that one can clamber on.
sfinny
Spring is amazing. Seedlings are coming along, although I have way more tomato, and less pepper, than I thought. Which is opposite to what I want, but whatever. 28 tomato plants and 3 pepper plants.
Trying again with some pepper seeds, but really I have to start replanting the amazing number of tomato plants into larger pots. Trying to figure out how much of a jungle I will have on my patio.
AlaskaReader
Spent the day shoveling snow and it’s begun snowing again.
NotMax
Expect it to become chilly here from mid-January through to the end of February. This year? All of January, all of February, all of March and still into April. Dropped down to 43 last night.
Eric S.
Last year, working from home on the 3rd floor, I gained a while new appreciation of Spring. Watching the leaves come in. Watch the bees, birds and other pollinators do their thing, the changing of colors. It was … a revitalizing experience.
Kelly
I watched steelhead spawn in our clear, cold river today. A few miles upriver osprey have been rebuilding for the last couple weeks after a winter storm took out their nest. Rebuilding on the same big old snag on the south bank where the sun is behind them as they watch the river. The storm took their nest and 20 feet or so off the snag but they’re still over a hundred feet up. Spring sunshine glows through new leaves. They’ll bulk up in time to make summer shade.
rikyrah
I feel you, Cole🤗🤗😍
rikyrah
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):
They are so mad that 46 and the Democrats are calling it “the new Jim Crow.”
The MSM wanted to “tone police” it, but the corporations stepping in to agree cut that bullshyt off at the knees.😒
Debbie(Aussie)
This is for DanB and anyone else interested from the pocket mouse Capybara thread.
edited because I can’t proof read :(
Megafauna
John Revolta
I’ve been watching everything greening up the last week, and the tulips and the daffodils, and the birds showing up and starting to build nests. Mrs. Revolta and I are planning a move to Florida later this year and it’s dawning on me- I might not ever see all this stuff again! Well, it’ll be worth it not to have to deal with winter anymore, but I’m looking at it all extra hard now.
HumboldtBlue
Cole you just need to protect the feed shed now that spring has done sprung.
Tony Jay
Check out John frigging Bombadil over there, the Spirit of the Mountain Wild.
He said fondly.
J R in WV
Tadpole heaven in the tiny pond… hundreds of ’em.
Maples in bloom with tiny scarlet blooms!
Ramps are up. Sarviceberry trees in bloom! Baby squirrels running around. Too early for baby birds tho!
Maybe back to sleep soon, too.
mrmoshpotato
@rikyrah: Media: WWWAAAAHHHHH!!!!! But we want to ‘Both sides are equally as bad!’ this!
Everyone else and their mothers (living and dead): Throw yourselves in Iceland’s volcano! It’s voter suppression!
mrmoshpotato
@J R in WV:
What are your feelings about the song ‘Hello! Ma Baby’?
Mel
Our two new kittens, wintertime babies who were both born last November, got their first real look at Springtime this week. They are amazed by and obsessed with everything that they can see, smell and hear through the window. They have a good view of the backyard garden from the window near their kitty condo.
I can’t wait to see what they do the first time they see deer meandering through.
Mel
@J R in WV: Magnolia burst into bloom this week, and it looks like the spicebush might green up early this year.
Wishing I had room for dogwoods. I miss having those and pear trees.
Steeplejack
@HumboldtBlue:
Hilarious!
Mary G
@Tony Jay: So are the Troubles back? Burning bus in N. Ireland after six days of riots seems a bit scary
JoyceH
Reading all these spring-enthusiast comments, and I don’t see anyone sharing my reaction, which is – “it’s so pretty, BUT…” Dang, doesn’t anyone else around here have allergies?
Tony Jay
@Mary G:
This is exactly what anyone with a room-temperature IQ said would happen if Johnson got his way on Brexit, but now it’s happening the UK Media is in full “Who could possibly be to blame for this most unexpected of ex nihilo occurrences?” mode, anything but face up to the fact that they helped install this Government in the full knowledge that doing so would plunge Northern Ireland back into political violence. Since they can’t/won’t admit that Brexit is turning the UK into an international pariah they’re stuck mainstreaming faux-patriotic Tory propaganda that everything is going to be just fine and consequences don’t exist as long as you wave the flag hard enough.
I can’t see any way out of it. Johnson’s Government is owned lock-stock and barrel by donor interests that want the country broken up for parts, and the only way to start fixing the Northern Ireland situation would mean doing a 180 on everything the modern Conservative Party exists to achieve – so it just ain’t happening.
On the plus side…… Nope. Nada.
oldster
Here in upstate New York, we’re a few weeks behind the season in West by gawd Virginia, but the change is even sweeter when the winter was much worse.
Days lengthening, flowers blooming, outdoor air no longer trying to kill you on contact. Absolutely my favorite time, from now until about July 1, when it will get a bit hot.
I also like this season for the better views of the contours of the land. The leaves are off but there’s no snow, and you can see a few hundred yards through woods that will be impenetrable in summer.
It’s all grand. I don’t believe in heaven, but I know what time of year it is.
Gvg
@John Revolta: we have spring, just a lot earlier than northern states. Which part of Florida? We are a long state climate wise with several different climates. I am considered north central Florida. Our spring was March and lovely but had a lot of pollen. Azaleas are the big spring flowering thing. Formosa azaleas can grow to 15 feet in some varieties and will be a wall of bloom. Don’t prune after June the prior year to have the best flowering.
Spring has an element of other areas fall in that our evergreen oaks lose some or most of their leaves in spring. The new leaves push the old leaves off so there is a brief week or 2 when the trees may look bare but have a sort of green or yellow fringe that is the new leaves which poke out and then unfurl very quickly. So if you have many oaks, you may rake in the spring. I gather up the ones that fall in the street to keep them out of gutters but I value leaves for compost. I go around and get my neighbors leaves who don’t garden.
Oak tree shade makes summer much much nicer. So do swimming pools. If you get too hot, go swimming. Know where local pools are and check out the ocean, plus lakes, rivers and springs. There are a lot of them. As a teen, social life centered on things like pool parties and water parks and of course, the beach.
debbie
A hard freeze ruined the magnolias this year, but everything else has been absolutely beautiful. I don’t know if it was the extra gray weather, but the forsythia seem brighter than ever. There are people on the community FB page who are talking about getting rid of what they see as a very invasive plant. These people should be imprisoned until they come to their senses. Forsythia is one of spring’s milestones!
debbie
@JoyceH:
I have allergies and am happy to suffer for all this beauty, even while sucking at my inhalers.
Denali
I loved every part of this except the part where you fed the deer.
Anonymous
@Denali:
Yeah, no!!
Don’t do that.
First, there’s plenty for them to eat, second, it just brings them down from the wooded hillsides to the hollow where the roads are, third, it’s ILLEGAL to feed wildlife, but for birds.
@mrmoshpotato:
I don’t recall that song, so let’s see what YouTube tells me?
Oh, THAT frog!! That was a terrific and hilarious cartoon, ragtime dancing singing majik frog who wouldn’t sing for anyone but the lonely guy who found him!
My grandma could play ragtime songs on her old piano… I could never pick up that syncopated beat it has. One spring my folks took grandma on a Delta Queen cruise down around Memphis and Vicksburg. One event was a talent contest, which grandma won by playing her ragtime songs on the Delta Queen calliope — originally steam powered, now compressed air.