Spring has Truly Arrived

Spring has arrived. There will be miserable days ahead, but good days will increase in number and even better temperatures. 

One way of marking the arrival for me is to notice when the morning sun hits my computer screen. There has been some diffuse light on my monitor recently, but it didn't stand out too much. Yesterday morning, there was a very bright patch of sunlight in the upper right corner. Soon, I will probably need to lower the blind to see the screen properly. But not this morning or for the next few because it is chucking it down (British for raining hard).

That is not the only marker, however, for I have found some crocuses, lain on the grass with my camera, and taken some photos. Another photographer discovered them by accident on an abandoned property. When I first went to look, I couldn't spot them, so I went back home, brought up his photo, and was able to see where they the little clump was located — hiding in the debris by a bush.

My first attempts were with my telephoto lens.

You will note all of the bramble for this is in an abandoned and unkept property. I didn't try to remove the debris but went with the flow. Getting down and shooting with the camera was enough of a challenge, so clearing the stage, as it were, was not on my agenda.

I like the in situ photo , above, well enough, for the context is part of the story, but I still hauled myself up, went back to the car, and affixed my macro lens. Back went I to the clump and back down went I onto the slightly wet ground.

As you can see, I took several photos at slightly different distances and at slightly different angles. I think this next one might be my fave, but it doesn't matter, and my opinion changes every time I look at them again. It is not very dissimilar from the one directly above, but for some reason, I think that I like it a little more. It is more straight-on, and that changes the background and lessens the foreground busyness a bit.

It has been years since I last had the chance to photograph crocuses, so I was chuffed for this serendipitous opportunity. For me, crocuses are the harbinger of spring – along with the sun reaching my computer screen, of course.

Crocuses and my screen are not the only signs of spring, for we have also had three days of some sun and good temperatures although we are now due for three days of rain. The mercury ascended to 15C/59F yesterday which was enough to eliminate the final bit of snow from our yard.

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As a little addendum and to prove we are still in The Great White North, strong and free, I present two photos from our walk in a little wetland yesterday. It is shady in there and still icy on the shallow swamp.