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Friday 8 April 2016

Spring is a Fickle Thing

Early April is unpredictable in these parts. One day it's cold and snowy; the next, the snow melts again and it feels like May. Sometimes the temperature swing happens in a matter of a few hours. Sometimes the frigid and the balmy happen at the exact same time, with wind that's cold to walk into, and sunlight putting out real warmth .

I went for a walk on one of those days not long ago, and pwetty nearwey fwoze my wips - while working up a sweat under my jacket. I had my hood up, then down; gloves on, then off. It was a weird day.

The snow that had fallen was mostly melted - but this was what all the trees along the walking trail looked like:

The only snow on this - and all the other trees - was on the north side of the trunk.

This was happening, too:

See the ice on the tips of the branches (left and slightly right of center of photo)? Many of the branches I saw had those little icy nodules on their very ends.

The sun was warm enough to melt ice and snow, but only where it could get directly at them. In shady areas and where the ice was thicker, the cold was winning.

Lucky for us, the little garden in the front of our house gets direct sunlight all day long, and so I'm happy to report that we now have these:

 
Not many, and not open, but they're there. One of fickle spring's better things.

Have a good weekend, my friends. And for my overseas friends - a good Sunday and Monday.

12 comments:

Joanne Noragon said...

We had another serious snowfall over night, and another coming tonight, riding the vortex, as you may know. All the bulbs are struggling along, but I fear we've lost the magnolia blossoms for this year.

jenny_o said...

Too bad about the magnolia blossoms - they're so beautiful. In some ways I'd rather snow than the pouring rain we're having at the moment. I can walk in the snow but I tend not to go out in heavy rain. I need a raincoat.

dinthebeast said...

The plants have been acting like it was spring here since February, and Wednesday set a bunch of local records for heat... Which apparently lowered the pressure offshore and brought back the clouds. What the hell happened to El Nino? We need water! I just got a text from my friend near Yosemite, and she's not getting any more snow up there either.

-Doug in Oakland

Jono said...

You're way ahead of us. It keeps snowing, but the temps are starting to get above freezing almost every day.

Elephant's Child said...

Autumn is being as fickle here as Spring there. The nights are finally blissfully cool, but last week we recorded the hottest April day in fifty years. And it was hot.
Loved walking with you.

Geo. said...

Here in central California, it's 80 degrees and threatening rain. When I think back on prior Aprils, when we were 5 years into drought, I remember mowing brown, flammable fields. This year, I can go about it slower. There's still green stuff out there!

jenny_o said...

I used to enjoy a mild winter or an early spring without reservation, but that was before we knew about global warming. I still like the temperatures, but worry too.

jenny_o said...

Hopefully more snow is melting than accumulating. Maybe that's a new definition for spring. As long as it's a net loss, you're going in the right direction.

jenny_o said...

Oh, how I love it in the fall when the nights cool off. I'm glad you've made it to that point in your seasons, EC. New heat records are not a good thing, though.

jenny_o said...

I hope you get slow, gentle rain this time. You've had too many extremes where you live, Geo.

DB Stewart said...

The snow has all melted here way up in Northern Alberta. Plus, temps have been warmish. At least for now. *fingers crossed*

jenny_o said...

You may need to cross more than that. We had another snowstorm yesterday.

Nice to see you here! I lost track of your blog (my bookmark list is far too long) and that was a grievous mistake. Going to go catch up now.