This week here in Western Michigan, we may finally have temperatures above 32 degrees. Though we have had some sun, the snow and ice still cover the roads and sidewalks. Michigan winter weather can be extreme. I recall my Dad delivering flowers for a local florist on Valentine’s Day in a blizzard. Compare this to 2023 when the warmest Valentine’s temperature was 54 degrees. With Punxsutawney Phil’s prediction of six more weeks of winter, we are looking for small signs of the coming spring.
First, we have more than 2 hours of daylight added for a total of eleven hours and eleven minutes of daylight since the solstice. The sun is higher with the Earth’s tilt making the sunlight feel more intense. When cross-country skiing , I have developed a burn on my face and neck in February.
The intensity of the sun is starting to melt snow on our roof, forming icicles.I have heard water in the downspouts during the afternoons. Snow melt is seen running into the storm drains.
I have heard the return of songbirds in the area. Chickadees, with the call of “chick a dee dee dee,” the male and female cardinals’ song of “cheer, cheer, cheer” or “birdie, birdie, birdie”, and the small tufted titmouse is distinctive in their song of “peter, peter, peter.” I have heard the chickadee and cardinal song this week.
Despite the snow covering, small areas of winter-whipped helleborus plants are exposed. The blooms will form in early spring while the snow is on the ground. Snowdrops are delicate white hanging bell-shaped flowers that can bloom as early as January even with snow cover. They usually appear in small clusters. They thrive in moist, shady spaces. I am looking for this first herald of spring plants to appear.
The hanging dried berries of the bitter-sweet vines attract song birds. In the spring as other food sources become scarce. Fox squirrels will also feast on the dried fruit. The Cedar Waxwing loves dried bitter-sweet fruit. The Waxwing gets its name from the red-tipped feathered wings, resembling the melted wax from candles. Robins are also fond of the dried fruit. I have seen birds perched in the bittersweet arbor in February. I wait, looking for the elusive subtle signs of early spring.
&***. Poem
Icy grasp
Winter holds the land in its icy fist.
Snow-frosted branches mimic death.
Warming sunlight releases a bit of green.
Weary birds perch on the bitter-sweet vine.
Hoping for more signs.
It’s a matter of time,
before the spring’s sun will shine.
carolaspot@aol.com
Copyright 2/9/2016
traveling up and down the blind highway 