This year Spring officially begins a week from tomorrow, on March 19th.
The Almighty Google tells me that it always begins on March 19th, 20th or 21st but because this is a Leap Year, February got an extra day and the Vernal Equinox comes a little early on the calendar.
Of course for people in the Southern Hemisphere, i.e. south of the Equator, this date marks the beginning of Autumn.
As we took a short drive today we saw signs that nature and people were rushing the season a bit.
Judy said "The trees are budding."
When I reminded her that she said not to plant flowers and herbs until after her mid-May birthday, she replied "That's for tender plants. The trees know what they're doing."
We saw people out in their yards, raking up old leaves and at least one yard had a flower box with fresh plantings.
But the most certain indication that Spring is on the way was at our nearby Urban Lakes Park.
The town had drained one of the two lakes to seal and repair leaks in the dam.
But it's all filled again as we found on our drive around town.
Way off on the far side you might be able to see a man standing at the water's edge.
He's a fisherman trying his luck.
But on our side of the lake, the water was teeming with ducks and geese.
They seemed happy to have their playground back.
And it appeared Spring had produced thoughts of romance to many of the creatures as they chased each other around their corner of the lake.
Spring is a time of year for growth, it is said, and perhaps too for starting a fresh family!
We leveled and filled our birdbath this weekend. Have yet to see any birds in it.
ReplyDeleteJudy cleaned our birdbath's basin today but said just leave it on the ground for a month or so in case it freezes. Easier to dump than taking it off and on the pedestal.
DeleteI haven't seen signs of Spring here yet in the plants, but the light is noticeably different.
ReplyDeleteHere it was around freezing all day. Woke up disoriented by DST.
ReplyDeletetc/Light/Breezes---we enjoy your photo outings around PV.
ReplyDeleteI'm with Judy on the planting, but the trees are starting to bloom here. The weather should get nice later in the week so I'm hoping for some outdoor work. I need to mow!
ReplyDeleteYur new header is very lovely, though I am glad I can't smell the blossoms (Atchoo!) I'm still waiting for our heatwave to be over, I've done a LOT of sleeping these last four days, it's the only way to get through it.
ReplyDeleteWe also have a recommended mid to late May planting time to avoid those late frosts. As you know, I have seen snowdrops, and yesterday in the park we spotted the emergence of the first crocus with just the tiniest hint of blue.
ReplyDeleteLot of early bloom here, it is an early spring.
ReplyDeleteI keep waiting for us to get a dump of snow but a lot of the birds are coming back now and flowers blooming so maybe it really is spring. Thanks for the update on what the official date is.
ReplyDeleteAt least the geese and ducks know not to crowd the fisherman. Unlike seagulls!
ReplyDeleteIt's so nice to get out on these lovely days. We still have some 30° F days coming next week but not too many!
ReplyDeleteI have yet to get out in my gardens! Late for me but other projects have kept us hopping. The lake looks very Inviting. And yes, the birds here are all a-twitter too.
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