Weekend Snapshot and Nature Notes
I am doing a combo post this week for Weekend Snapshot and Nature Notes. Saturday was Earth Hour and this was my second year participating. I decided to expand my participation and not use any lights during the afternoon on through the earth hour until 9:30 pm. It made me realize that I'm ready for a break in the rainy weather. Since it was rainy and dark all day Saturday I was ready for some light by the time I turned them on at 9:35 pm.
I didn't think I'd ever grow tired of rain after the 2007/2008 drought we dealt with where I live, but I was thrilled to see a break in the clouds on Sunday. We have had a very wet March. I think what I'm missed the most is natural light. I took the shot below this morning when I saw some blue in the sky. I was surprised to see that even the oak trees are starting to show signs of new life since they are one of the later trees to do that.
Everything smells so fresh and clean from the rainy week but there has been so much rain there is a whiff of decaying matter mixed in with the more pleasant spring smells. Of course decaying matter will be adding nutrients which is good.
Saturday when we had a few moments without rain falling, I darted out to shoot my first tulip of the year. I didn't even know that they had begun to emerge much less bloom, until I spotted this one when the white daffodils were beat down by the rain.
As a matter of fact, when I first spotted the red above the white from my window, I thought it was a pair of cardinals. Below is a shot I took of a brown thrasher surrounded by the fresh rose foliage. I haven't spotted any rose buds yet but the boughs of my climbing roses are leafing out.
On Friday, I drove through my neighborhood in the rain to snap some shots of the trees which are bursting into bloom every where I look. I knew that the rain was going to beat down a lot of the blossoms so I wanted to snap them while I could. I was correct about that because in addition to rain we had fierce winds and a tornado warning. A tornado did touch down outside of town but I don't think anyone was hurt.
Most years, I walk around my neighborhood daily in the spring and photograph the changes surrounding me. However, this year the rain hasn't made that practical but it dawned on me that I could do something similar in my car and roll down the window for shots.
Even on dark, rainy days, the cheerful blossoms of spring brighten up my natural world. The birds do too with their constant chatter. I can also spy on the bathing beauties in their bird bath from my deck door.
I guess this is getting pretty long so I'll wrap it up with one last shot. The azaleas are budding out earlier than ever, or it seems like that. I hope we don't get a hard freeze because I have too many azaleas to cover and some are twelve feet tall, as I let my azaleas go wild. April 15 is our average last freeze date but last year I think we had a hard freeze at the end of April which damaged trees and flowers alike.
For other participants you can go to the home of Nature Notes, and the home of Weekend Snapshot.
I didn't think I'd ever grow tired of rain after the 2007/2008 drought we dealt with where I live, but I was thrilled to see a break in the clouds on Sunday. We have had a very wet March. I think what I'm missed the most is natural light. I took the shot below this morning when I saw some blue in the sky. I was surprised to see that even the oak trees are starting to show signs of new life since they are one of the later trees to do that.
Everything smells so fresh and clean from the rainy week but there has been so much rain there is a whiff of decaying matter mixed in with the more pleasant spring smells. Of course decaying matter will be adding nutrients which is good.
Saturday when we had a few moments without rain falling, I darted out to shoot my first tulip of the year. I didn't even know that they had begun to emerge much less bloom, until I spotted this one when the white daffodils were beat down by the rain.
As a matter of fact, when I first spotted the red above the white from my window, I thought it was a pair of cardinals. Below is a shot I took of a brown thrasher surrounded by the fresh rose foliage. I haven't spotted any rose buds yet but the boughs of my climbing roses are leafing out.
On Friday, I drove through my neighborhood in the rain to snap some shots of the trees which are bursting into bloom every where I look. I knew that the rain was going to beat down a lot of the blossoms so I wanted to snap them while I could. I was correct about that because in addition to rain we had fierce winds and a tornado warning. A tornado did touch down outside of town but I don't think anyone was hurt.
Most years, I walk around my neighborhood daily in the spring and photograph the changes surrounding me. However, this year the rain hasn't made that practical but it dawned on me that I could do something similar in my car and roll down the window for shots.
Even on dark, rainy days, the cheerful blossoms of spring brighten up my natural world. The birds do too with their constant chatter. I can also spy on the bathing beauties in their bird bath from my deck door.
I guess this is getting pretty long so I'll wrap it up with one last shot. The azaleas are budding out earlier than ever, or it seems like that. I hope we don't get a hard freeze because I have too many azaleas to cover and some are twelve feet tall, as I let my azaleas go wild. April 15 is our average last freeze date but last year I think we had a hard freeze at the end of April which damaged trees and flowers alike.
For other participants you can go to the home of Nature Notes, and the home of Weekend Snapshot.
15 comments:
I am trying to figure out where you are, because you have so many full-blown signs of spring whereas we in New Jersey have just begun our spring (it actually snowed on the official first day of spring here).
Love the azalea, the tulip inside and the thrasher.
I am going to poke around on your melanoma links now.
I'm in North Carolina. We have had a weird spring with snow at the beginning of March and back and forth with warm and cold but we've had several weeks of rain and temps above freezing.
Your tulip is lovely. Nice color. I like the bathing bird. And, the smell after rain .. love it!
Oh these are all so good and spring-y .. I forgot about Earth Hour .. doh ..
Hi Carver..This is great for Nature Notes, thank you for participating. I didn't know you could have a hard freeze that late in the year. But even with the rain, you got some great photos of spring. It's funny but my own meme is making me look harder and I too have some tulip flowers starting to show. Yeah... spring....Michelle
It's lovely to see all those blossoming trees and plants on a walk. The air must be filled with the scent of flowers.
Great post Carver!
I can so visualize the budding blooms at the end of the rain or in the misty rain - they always look more pronounced to me and fresh!
You have a lovely garden. Sure wish I have the luxury of land. Love your photos. We also participated in Earth Hour. And I'm glad the awareness is spreading.
The tulip photo is a treasure. The other one I love is the while blooming tree alongside the white house. Of course... you are a bit ahead of us. sigh.
What lovely colors! :)
the white colored tree is really beautiful. i too had a hard time finding the tulips in the photo.
These are such lovely shots,I loved the Tulip shot very much. And spring has just set in.
Love the unusual look into that wonderful tulip!
No tulips yet here either so it was nice to see them on your blog. Great selection of early spring shots.
Our azaleas are at the same point as yours, but the tulips and cherry blossoms are late this year. So thank you for the beautiful photos to remind me that full blown spring is on its way, and in fact, can't be stopped.
V.
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