PURPLE, YELLOW, WHITE, GREEN, WET

 The last of the pond ice has melted and OMG at least 12 fish survived all winter under the ice, cold, dark, and hunger! All of a sudden the yard crew has lots of raking, pruning, and hauling ---- great to be active outside. So many bees that you hear the humming before you see them in the purple. The yellow crocus also want attention...

Also making a return appearance is White Ears the Squirrel. And several butterflies that have spent the winter under the leaf litter. Can you see the sparrows, so well camouflaged on the ground?

The first fully-loaded lakes freighter to leave port was the Algoma Sault. Seven-hundred feet long (but still only half the length of the ship stuck in the Suez Canal). The Car Guy had to fix an electrical glitch before the green Kiwi could come out. Looks like it worked?!

Heavy rains during the week and its still pouring this morning. Seasonal flooding up here on the ridge,  and torrential flow in the creek below.

Remember your math equations? Does (3 pie = R)? 

SPRING!

The sun rose due east, heavenly proof that spring has officially arrived. What a psychological lift after the long dark pandemic winter! Waves were still pounding as cold winds came from the north. But the local maple sap is running at maximum through tubing, like a kid scrawling the woods with a blue Sharpie.

Warm days are melting the last of the snow on the hill. Squirrels had chewed through two inches of floorboards to take shelter in the tool shed. The Coast Guard cutter set out navigation buoys, like painting lane markers on a watery highway.

Today will be the first hanging of laundry outside --- is the line ready? The Kitchen Queen is whipping up a new batch of cookies, and some comfort food perogies too. Like "Ancestry.calm"!

The first daytrip to Toronto since October. A sunny walk around the harbour Quay --- a nice neighbourhood  to have an apartment? Out at the Beach, the grassy area is worn down but the dunes are being regenerated. Ying, yang. For our weekly Chinese takeout it's the mother-of-all-lunch-combos: The Goof!

Want more proof of spring here up north? Snowdrops take the place of snowdrifts. Grackles gleam iridescent purple. Crocus flood the south zone, like happy campers staking their claim.

The pond ice is still thick but let's give it a bit of headstart to melt. Chipmunks' cheeks bulge with dinner. Maybe this guy will be doing the same?? Another first of Spring...

THE BIG MELT

Wacky weather week. Just four days ago the cold and snow had us all locked in, like a ferry in a white jail. Still shoveling at the bottom of the hill. Pond bird going nowhere, like iron feet in white quicksand. Still shoveling uphill too.

The air is crisp and cold, bringing out stargazing at night and moon shots at dawn. The weekly therapy drive leads to Chinese takeout. Sunrises are awesome and moving quickly northward.

Local animal life is stirring --- that is a tipoff that the season is changing. Deer wander closer, squirrels are taking names, and chipmunks are straddling the snowline.

Then BAM! Within two days of record heat, about 95% of the snow cover disappeared! Thaw, melt, evaporation. An amazing transformation happened while-you-watch.

The south wind brought whitecaps on the bay. The warm melt created whitecaps on the driveway!

Voila, proof of life after winter. The coast guard icebreaker patrolled with no ice to break! The first freighter to port wins the ceremonial top hat. Voles or moles had created twisty highways under the snow. And the biggest OMG --- the Car Guy could drive up the hill (in March) with heavy cargo. Earliest drive up ever!

So its not quite spring yet, even though the clocks sprung ahead this morning. But another good omen, up in the bare branches ---- the first robin.! Yay! Yay!