Winter’s song with notes of spring…

If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant.

Ann Bradstreet

In the Spring, I have counted 136 different kinds of weather inside of 24 hours.

Mark Twain

As winter and spring play a tug of war in the transition of seasons, the music of the natural world begins to change.  The quiet crunch of walking on the snow is intermingled with the sounds of splashes of water from melting snow and ice.  The total quiet of a calm snowfall gives way to the sounds of birds traveling to summer homes, even when it’s snowing. Cold winter winds often howl, but strong March winds may include the sound of pelting rain too.

It’s a time of year when I go out into the garden to be surprised that cold weather plants have emerged from the soil, self-seeded from the previous year.  Vining plants begin to show tight, but slowly unfurling green tips. Buds on trees begin to swell suggesting that spring will soon be upon us.  The ground in sunny areas begins to thaw while winter hangs onto the north facing shady areas longer. The very first bulbs push their way into the tentative sunshine, giving bright spots of color to the yard. 

While the mountains and trails of the Sierra are still in the grip of winter with snowy landscapes, the mountains often glint in the sun as the surface of snowfields become icy. In the high desert, tentative shoots of hardy plants give tiny hints of green to the ground. Change is in the March winds.

Though most of us are often eager to see winter move on and spring to fully arrive, don’t miss the beauty of this season of change.  Take the time to notice the music of March…