Sign of hope

Springing to life is this Willow on Pleasant Lake.  As March ends, the willow branches are the first to show life and reflect hope that, yes, there really is a spring coming.

This tree has captured the imagination of many all over the world for centuries.  Here are just a few!  Poets have written about it, from Robert Herrick (To the Willow Tree) in the 17th century to William Carlos Williams (Willow Poem) in the 20th.  And for children, there is Kenneth Grahame's The Wind in the Willows, from which AA Milne took his play Toad of Toad Hall.

a slice of sky

A typical rural view when wandering the roads in southwest Michigan.

Oh no, please not snow!

But it sure looks like it.  It could happen, has been known to happen, for instance, during the Memorial Day Parade.   However, when you take a moment for a close look, you find you are in the presence of the Eastern Cottonwood whose seeds in their snow-like strands are floating in the breeze during the day and in early morning are settled on the ground.

the turn of the evergreens

(Click on the photo to enlarge it.)
The Red Pine is going crazy producing these beautiful coral young cones.  In researching I discovered that these are male cones.  The Wikipedia article on pine cones is quite good, by the way.  (My companion the librarian cautions care always with Wikipedia and misses the shelves of reference books he once had at his finger tips.)  In another article I found out that pine comes via Latin and the French pin, while fir comes from Old Norse.  I hope I don't bore you with my researching.
While posting this photo and exploring other blogs this morning, I have been watching a lone doe in the meadow, most often standing still in the rain and once lying down under a tree before wandering off.   I was positive she was getting ready to give birth and had camera ready!  She obviously desired privacy for this event.

After the rain -- and before

Crabapple blossoms cover the ground and nestle in a small indentation in the rock (which we just dug up when planting some ferns under the tree).  Wind and rain this weekend have almost denuded all the trees that were blooming this week, especially the crabtrees and redbud.  The honeysuckle are taking over as bloomers for this week along with the hawthorne and, lest we forget, the dogwood who are in their glory days.

Crabapple tree, worth repeating any way possible

A change in the weather for Skywatch Friday

Yep, the balmy weather is coming to a close with these rain clouds the first clues this morning.  And as the day went on, the temperature dropped and tomorrow will not hit 50.  Oh, no!  It is going to be "truly" spring not early summer for awhile.  The worry now is the all the fruit blossoms that were coaxed out too early.  We are, according the the weatherman, two weeks ahead; in other words, the fruit trees think it is May.  So did we all and it was quite wonderful!
For more great skies all over the world, got to Skywatch Friday.

Corey Lake Orchards abloom

In the orchard it is the cherries in bloom; in the woods it is the Amelanchier or Shadblow or Serviceberry, call this graceful tree what you will.  Both have such delicate white blossoms, but yesterday Willow and I concentrated on the cherry trees at the Corey Lake Orchards, the place where you must go for the best fruits and vegetables all season long.  And for homemade apple brandy -- a close cousin of slivovitz.

Not too long a wait and those shelves above the signs will be loaded with good things to eat!  For directions and more information, visit their website: http://www.coreylakeorchards.com/

subtler but as fascinating as fall colors

Remember to click to enlarge!  I love the spring colors of the emerging leaves and believe them as inspiring as the fall colors everyone raves about.  Can it be that the months of winter leave one so hungry for color that subtle is good?

for skywatchers in the spring

Through the branches of the budding red maple, here is a look at the blue sky in the west  on a morning with the temperature at 62!   Meanwhile to the east, the sun was struggling to come through a layer of clouds.  We had it any sky you wanted this morning!

a view from the tea house

Overlooking the ravine with its vernal pond is this exquisite little hut modeled on a Japanese tea house.  I will try to do a series of seasonal views to give you a chance to experience the colors of stillness it provides. 
And yes we do find morels though not in abundance.  People jealousy guard the whereabouts of the best sites!

the path to spring

This "plantation" of white pine and oaks is now probably 15 years old.  It is part of the Hermitage property and the system of paths in the hills and woods surrounding us.  With the snow gone, it is again accessible and a joy to walk through.

March is not Michigan's most colorful month......

You don't even have to the choose the sepia effect to obtain this photo!  With only the smallest patch of snow left, the vista is dominated by shades of brown and the shades of plants past.  Today I found many open seed pods of last year's milk weed.  The result I hope will be many happy monarch butterflies this summer. 

There is color emerging but the long view doesn't show it.   If you study the ground you are walking on, you will find the greenest mosses to cheer you up.  And Garrison Keillor makes me laugh every time with this definition: "March is the month that God designed to show those who don't drink what a hangover is like."

not only a bear but a moose can be hidden in an old tree

Close to us is a farmstead that has been a duck farm and is now a small engine repair shop for outdoor equipment.  With a chainsaw, a friend transforms old tree stumps into sculptures -- the bear, the moose, an eagle (currently under snow cover), and a cowboy with his horse (the heads of each).  There are lights around the moose's neck lit by the small solar panel to the left -- there are nights when they do not shine.
And yes, despite all my moaning about it yesterday, the sun is shining off and on today; the clouds are rolling in and out like a sonata for wind, clouds, and sun.

the extra bark of winter