Area residents woke up to a drastic change of scenery last Friday.
A scene from Friday’s snowfall
What was once brown with small patches of green was transformed whiter than white.
A scene from Friday’s snowfall
This had many people in the region who were hoping for a spring start waving white flags in surrender.
While the full snow cover didn’t stand up to the weekend’s sunshine, patches of ice and snow remain.
Unfortunately, more snow may be on the way for the end of the week.
Forecasters say the pending nor’easter will not be as bad as last week’s bomb cyclone which hammered the East Coast.
Here, the region is expected to see rain and snow Tuesday through Wednesday and then snow on Thursday and Friday of this week.
However, the march toward spring continues.
The days are getting longer. In fact, Daylight Saving Time begins Sunday, March 11.
This past Monday the sun rose at 6:47 a.m. and set at 6:14 p.m. Next Monday, March 12, the sun will rise at 7:36 and set at 7:22 p.m.
Late winter bloomers such as winter aconite, snowflakes and skunk cabbage are making their way up through the snow.
Robins have been spotted around the region. However, this blogger hasn’t been able to get a photo, yet.
Facebook posts indicate that some in the area have crocuses popping up.
Pops of color
While no crocuses have made it to the surface in this blogger’s yard, a few blossoms off of the winter aconite have provided some much needed color.
Winter aconite
Winter aconite, is native to Europe — France to Bulgaria, according to a post on www.missouribotanicalgarden.org.
The site said the flower is “a true harbinger of spring … these rugged plants often send their shoots up through snow.”
The snowflakes have opened up while the snowdrops are still lagging behind.
Snowflake petals
The blooms of skunk cabbage are appearing in the areas around the creeks.
“Skunk cabbages begin to make (their) appearance in the early winter, when most plants still wait for spring,” a post on the Nature Conservancy’s site’s www.nature.org said.
Skunk cabbage’s flowers emerge from the ground before its leaves, according to a post on the Urban Ecology Center’s website at urbanecologycenter.org.
Skunk cabbage
The flowers are “spiky-shaped maroon leaves are mottled with contrasting patches of bright yellow-green,” according to the Nature Conservancy site.
Urban Ecology said “the ‘flowers’ actually consist of a spathe and a spadix. A spathe is a modified leaf which looks like a hood. The spathe surrounds a spadix, a cylindric structure which contains a bunch of tiny flowers packed together. ”
Both sites presented an interesting fact about skunk cabbage — its ability to emit warmth.
“Skunk cabbages are one of the few plants that exhibit thermogenesis, meaning they have the ability to raise their own temperature,” Urban Ecology said. “This attribute also allows the skunk cabbage to melt its way above the frozen ground.”
Despite their warming capability, it will still be sometime before the green leaves of the cabbages make their appearance.
The moon on Saturday morning
On camera
The trail cameras were switched over to video clips. At first it seemed that the video capability had drained the cameras’ batteries in just two days.
However, it was discovered that the camera’s informational display doesn’t show up when the cameras are recording video.
Meanwhile, the video mode netted approximately four interesting videos of some deer visitors.
One visitor has been nicknamed “Spot” due to an extra white spot on its nose. Spot first appeared in still photos on the camera on Feb. 19. Spot has shown up a couple of times since then and appears to be healthy.
Spot’s spot could merely be a variation in pigmentation as completely white and piebald whitetails have been seen before in various parts of the country and state.
A Walk in the Woods contains photos from newsroom staffer Anna Applegate’s daily jaunts around her neck of the woods. Tagging along on the treks are dogs, Buford, Sherman and Sadie, and goats, Kyle and Kennedy. Applegate manages the Good Times and can be emailed at bigdogs.thederrick@gmail.com.
