Back at Jokers Hill …

March 7, 2013. Things have changed at Jokers Hill while I was in the south. My last day here at the very end of January it looked like spring was around the corner. The fields behind the research barn were completely free of snow as you can see from this photograph.

The sun was bright that day and gave me the opportunity to shoot a self-portrait, my shadow stretching across the grass.

me and my computer bag, not a bustle worn in front 

Though it was chilly and windy the sky was patched blue and white and I remember it felt good to walk, and easy, the ground hard underfoot and clear of snow. But snow fell in February, quite a hit of it in fact, and I’ve come back to lots of white on the ground and a white winter light today. But it’s not cold, the skiff of snow that accumulated on the car overnight has melted and what’s underfoot feels punky.

I came up briefly last weekend for a walk around with my family, and to check out what I needed by way of food. Saturday afternoon the wind was brisk, and we huddled into our jackets. That bare field had fallen back into its winter self.

Snow was heaped like boulders where the road had been ploughed. It must have been quite crusty and hard, perhaps there'd been some rain or at least shifts in temperature as well.

In spite of the snow and cold, things are stirring at Jokers Hill. Even on that cold Saturday afternoon walk, signs of a change were present in the increased colour of the willows. And we saw a Pileated woodpecker!

John’s hibiscus are flourishing. They made us warm just to look at-- but it was also nice to spend a few minutes in that greenhouse-feeling room. 

Yesterday afternoon I went to the Naturalists' Training Course session on fungi and lichens, and while we were outside scraping lichens off fences and trees to look at under the microscope, two Pileated woodpeckers flew over. We heard them call, and then, more impressively, their incredibly loud hammering on trees. It sounds like a huge drum. More on the fascinations of lichen in another post.