When people talk about the winter break, they usually are referring to a break from school or work. This year, I see a different break. The reprieve from a harsh winter.
Here in the midwest, we start to see the signs of spring in March. This year, February is the month of change.
The white lenten rose plants have continued to bloom all winter. The rose tinted buds of the helleborus a later bloomer, are producing small pink buds.
Myrtle has stayed green and lush. Deer have continued to feed on the new growth by digging under the snow to find the plant as it appears.
Even the flowering bulbs of the snow drops have started to put out leaves a month ahead of schedule.
Additionally, The shoreline of Lake Michigan is free of ice. The lake is usually ice bound into March. Punxsutawney Phil’s prediction of an early spring is proving true.
Global warming is a fact, not a myth.
Our area of the country is not the only area seeing weather changes. There have been torrential rains in Washington and Oregon. More than five inches of rain have fallen in the past week in Portland. The average yearly rainfall is 48 inches.
Texas, has dealt with a long period of dry, hot weather. In College Station, near Houston, the heat record was recorded at 112 degrees. The Dakota’s, midwest and the south had long periods of extreme heat, paired with little rainfall.
Warming of the surface of oceans have increased the intensity and frequency of hurricanes. The increased temperatures in shallow water areas, such the Golf of Mexico and near the Florida Keys, have caused destruction of plant and fish life.
So before you take too much delight in the change in winter, consider if this a variation or a trend? What can each of us do to make a smaller footprint in the water and land? We have one earth and she is sending out an alarm.
No bees,
no ants,
fewer birds,
Just some pests
butterflies gone
no bats on wing
who’s next
feel the sting
traveling up and down the blind highway 