Enchanted World

 

Buttercups Beaucoup!

 

Have we ever had

as many buttercups

as are blooming this year

in Leelanau County?

This Is What I Came Home To --

 

There was ice, there was snow ...

 

And the wind was very cold --

but there was sunshine, too.

It's a beautiful day in northern Michigan!

Closeup Magic

I have a story about horsetails that I'll save for another time. Today you should simply appreciate the beauty of sunlight on morning dew on these little prehistoric survivors. And the closer you get, the more magical they will appear.

Spring Scenes, Leelanau

Isadore Heights

Up North Spring Intensifies

Need I say anything?

We Live in Two-Seasons Country

I don't mean what you might think I mean. I'm not saying that northern Michigan has only two seasons, Winter and Company (or Winter and Bad Sledding). What occurred to me this morning is that while we do have at least four seasons -- and I often think we have several more -- we don't have them separately. This morning, for instance, while trillium are springing up in the woods (lots of leeks and spring beauties, too), almost ready to unfurl their blossoms -- flowers a sure sign of spring -- winter lingers on in the Manitou Passage and on east- and south-facing wooded slopes. Winter and/or spring: wing and sprint?

Manitou Passage, 5/6/2014

Snow Retreats, Ice Lingers On

A long look inland discovers irregular patterns of snow cover and last year's leaf litter beneath the trees in the woods. The patches of snow have been growing smaller every day. It takes but a glance over Lake Michigan to see a different story, however, and there is snow in the forecast for this coming Monday.

Does Anyone Besides Me Need a Preview?

Will they come again, these woodland wildflowers?

Surely, yes, in their own good time.

Once I started looking through last spring's images and scenes,

I could hardly stop --

and couldn't leave out the orchard, either, buzzing with bees.

But it's the woods I've been missing

during this year's long, housebound winter.

Snow, be gone! 

We have calendar spring, 

but we're hungry for the real thing!