#372 – Dick Bernard: Spring inches northward.

Today, May 10 in suburban St. Paul MN, the leaves on the trees have burst out, and the leafy green of woods in spring has returned once again.
Exactly one month ago, in suburban Albuquerque NM, I was taking a solitary walk along the Rio Grande River, and noticed a simple tree which intrigued me (click to enlarge photos):

It was about the identical stage of leaf development as the trees I saw on my daily walk today.

Further north of here, other trees will leaf out in coming days.
Further south of Albuquerque, somewhere, trees were leafing out precisely on the Vernal Equinox of March 20.
So it goes.
Spring brings with it the predictable; the only unpredictable is the precise timing for such events as the first leaves of summer.
Across the driveway, a duck has set up a nest beside a neighbors house.

With some luck (the family has a cat and a dog) the ducklings will hatch and follow Mom to some pond a few blocks away, and survive, and life will go on.
Walking along this morning, I was momentarily surprised by someone coming out of the adjacent woods.
Not to worry. Just a gray-haired lady who bent over to inspect some green foliage. “It’s milkwort” she said, excitedly, and walked on in the opposite direction.
Happy Spring.
I’ll include a photo from Babbitt MN to be taken on Friday, May 13….

Some Minnesota wild flowers May 11, 2011: