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.
