waiting impatiently for spring

Sunday -- We opened the day with a noisy thunderstorm, very heavy rain at 8:30 this morning. Some hail too. Springtime sort of storm. And it’s been spring weather the last few days, sixties, upper forties at night. Cold front coming tonight to chill it down. Lower than freezing? I don’t remember. I picked up the electric saw in town yesterday, but dallied on the ‘net, and got out here in the late dusk. I could still have sawed some wood, but I was tired and put it off; now it’s all soaked. Drat.

Buds are starting to push for spring. Very little is actually in flower yet save the elms, that were caught by the snow. The quince is full of fat buds, with a few somewhat open. Some dandelions and peppergrass, and a little yellow dandelion-tribe composite with narrow cylindrical non-spreading flowers, 8-inch tall stems over a rosette. In town at 610 yesterday I saw henbit, but none here at the Ridge yet. The chickasaw plum bushes have little round buds a couple of mm in diameter. Oak buds are noticeably swelling at the tips of the twigs. I am not the only one ready for spring to get here! Still, the average last frost is three weeks yet, so better not get overconfident.