Signs of the Season
"Nature's first green is gold."
A day until spring officially begins, but the signs of Spring are everywhere. Down the road at the farm, the forsythias have been in bloom for over a week. In the language of flowers, forsythias indicate anticipation. I'm anticipating spring.
Forsythias aren't a native plant; they're named for William Forsyth (1737–1804), an English horticulturist who brought them from China.
Old timers call forsythias "golden bells" or "yellow bells." Each flower does look like a little yellow bell. Forsythia blossoms ring in springtime.
Last week, I bought some pansies. They're in full bloom now. Nothing says spring like a pot of pansies.
Thanks to last week's rain, fields are greening up. The redbuds promise to bloom anytime now. Maybe today's spring shower will encourage them.
I love to look at the signs of spring.
Speaking of looking, this morning around 3:40, I woke up and—in the light of the dusk-to-dawn light—saw Camilla sitting on her window shelf and staring intently out the window.
Was she watching for spring? Does spring creep in on little cat feet at night? Anyhow, I got up to look and saw a full moon over the trees that line Bar Ridge Road. Camilla and I watched the golden moon for a few minutes until clouds obscured it. Then I went back to bed.
A few hours later, I realized that I'd never seen the moon rise in the south-southeast before. I checked the calendar. The moon is waning—it's in the last quarter now. Whatever I saw wasn't a full moon.
Here's a daylight view of where I looked. The "moon" was just at tree-top level in the distance—about the middle of this picture—just above the patch of green between the two center cedar trees.
So, what was that gold orb I saw last night?
Edited to add: Friday morning (March 20), at 6:30 I saw the quarter moon overhead toward the southeast, so I guess I could have seen a moon.
But why did I see a full one? Was it because it might have been shining through a thin cloud that made what I saw look full? Anybody have a scientific explanation?
A day until spring officially begins, but the signs of Spring are everywhere. Down the road at the farm, the forsythias have been in bloom for over a week. In the language of flowers, forsythias indicate anticipation. I'm anticipating spring.
Forsythias aren't a native plant; they're named for William Forsyth (1737–1804), an English horticulturist who brought them from China.
Old timers call forsythias "golden bells" or "yellow bells." Each flower does look like a little yellow bell. Forsythia blossoms ring in springtime.
Last week, I bought some pansies. They're in full bloom now. Nothing says spring like a pot of pansies.
Thanks to last week's rain, fields are greening up. The redbuds promise to bloom anytime now. Maybe today's spring shower will encourage them.
I love to look at the signs of spring.
Speaking of looking, this morning around 3:40, I woke up and—in the light of the dusk-to-dawn light—saw Camilla sitting on her window shelf and staring intently out the window.
Was she watching for spring? Does spring creep in on little cat feet at night? Anyhow, I got up to look and saw a full moon over the trees that line Bar Ridge Road. Camilla and I watched the golden moon for a few minutes until clouds obscured it. Then I went back to bed.
A few hours later, I realized that I'd never seen the moon rise in the south-southeast before. I checked the calendar. The moon is waning—it's in the last quarter now. Whatever I saw wasn't a full moon.
Here's a daylight view of where I looked. The "moon" was just at tree-top level in the distance—about the middle of this picture—just above the patch of green between the two center cedar trees.
So, what was that gold orb I saw last night?
Edited to add: Friday morning (March 20), at 6:30 I saw the quarter moon overhead toward the southeast, so I guess I could have seen a moon.
But why did I see a full one? Was it because it might have been shining through a thin cloud that made what I saw look full? Anybody have a scientific explanation?
~
Labels: spring
posted by Becky Mushko | 2:26 PM
3 Comments:
Hmmmm. I don't have a scientific explanation, but I could come up with all sorts of story ideas! Great photos!
Wonder if it really was the moon? I love forsythia because they promise that spring is on the way. I used to have two bushes beside the house. They grew so large and so fast that I couldn't keep up with pruning them and finally cut them down. Kinda of miss the early spring blooms.
Excellent photos. Really heart catching pics...
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