March wonders

March 02, 2020  •  7 Comments

One of the most common weather proverbs heard at this time of year is "March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb."  Today is the first Monday of March here on the mesa, and the lion is still lurking in the shadows, waiting to pounce with a grab bag of conditions including rain, hail, snow, graupel, and especially wind.  To a person, wind seems to be the least-liked element in the spring bag.  But wind melts snow and ice, and allows mud to dry, resulting in an easier walking surface. It churns the water in lakes, enabling nutrients to come alive for fish and other creatures.  And it creates holes in the ice, through which the flowers of spring will eventually emerge.  Exploring the remaining snow and mud with camera in hand, I found these two - green and waiting - for the right time to produce further growth.  They are rather bland now, not particularly pretty or flashy, but lurking, like the lion, just beneath the ice.

still life - growth beneath the ice 2still life - growth beneath the ice 2   

still life - growth beneath the ice 1still life - growth beneath the ice 1

 

The wind and accompanying relative warmth completely cleared the stock tank of ice, which, up until this week, was four inches thick.  Now, the water moves with the breeze, reflecting the sky.

still life - reflection on stock tank waterstill life - reflection on stock tank water

The winds aloft have been howling this week, as reflected in an entire collection of weird and amazing cloud formations.

skyscapes - March cloud danceskyscapes - March cloud dance

skyscapes - March cloud dance 2skyscapes - March cloud dance 2

Happy Birthday to Susie S., Jan, Brenda, Andrea, Debra, Jean, Sam G., Sam W., Sara, and Carol, who were born in March, and Happy Anniversary to Steve and Peggy, Debbie and Rock.  

until next Monday,

DB

a passion for the image@


Comments

Wayne Gesterfield(non-registered)
Neat, love cloud pics.
Elida Hanson-Finelli(non-registered)
A beautiful rendition of the, I will borrow Steve Immel’s phrase, the muted as befits the season but also intricate patterns of this unique season. The hints of green emerging. The new life just peaking out still surrounded by winter’s remains. Such a delicate eye and vivid imagination. On to the new season!! Yet always the skies!
Happy Birthday my Aries sister!
Dianne James(non-registered)
Daryl, I love your photos and observations as much as I love your writing. I went out searching for green signs of life this morning, but all I found were buds, but I'll take it.

It's beginning to be kite weather, and, ah, the tease of your green leaves to give us gardening fever. I have succumbed, and have just one blue lupine baby peaking its head out of the soil of a tray under grow lights. Thirty tomato seeds waiting in their warm trays in a darkened corner on the under-the-cabinet water heater (no need for heat mats, here) in what used to look like a kitchen. Perhaps the lion is the gardening beast inside many of us. Have a wonderful week, you two. The harbingers of spring causes me to journey the continent (via the internet) in search of seeds. My seed file is in need of more packets... And your little plants under ice give me hope.
Catherine Sobredo(non-registered)
Those leaves entrapped in ice are incredibly beautiful, Daryl! Between last week’s abstracts and these two precious gems, you are ready for an exhibit!
Ingrid(non-registered)
Daryl, you are definitely crowned the ice queen.
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