Come Walk with Me

Oh, SPRING! I have said this before, but I truly believe that each season is my favorite as it arrives. This year, it has felt like spring was about to arrive many times over, and then we would end up having cold spells to slow things down. I think that’s actually pretty common in Minnesota, but because we went straight to summer on our trip (see previous blog entries, starting here), the setbacks seemed a bit harder for me to handle this year. After a couple of days with temps in the 30’s and 40’s, today’s journey into the 50’s felt amazing.  I spent most of the afternoon outdoors. I hung around my back yard for a while before heading out on a walk around Quarry Hill Nature Center.  Most of you know I love to take pictures. I post quite a few on Facebook, but on a day like today, I took something like 150 pictures. Pictures of WHAT, exactly? Oh, just everything. The world was overflowing with life. Sometimes I think my heart might explode in spring. The barrenness of winter gives us a virtually blank slate, and spring’s etch-a-sketch fills in all the details. The Great Artist had really been at work today.

Just for today, let’s go on the walk together. I won’t make you slog through all 150 pictures, but I am going to try to give you a feel for how my eyes travel from one wonder to another, and hopefully you'll end up loving spring the same way I do!

First, here's what I found in the back yard. (Well, some of it....)

One of my fancy tulips opened up!

Did you see how lovely that shade of red is?

Mmm, sherbet!

Rhododendron loveliness

The red squirrel was yelling at me, so I had to take his picture.

Did you see the crabapple tree? It's so lovely!

Mr. Red Squirrel (again) is looking right at me and being cute.

There's a lovely White-throated Sparrow, eating blossoms.

Simply lovely!

What?! There's a baby bunny living under my shed too?

He's so adorable!

Did you see the ferns?

Oh, that fancy tulip sure is lovely in the sunlight!

Now we're off to Quarry Hill (if you're still with me...).

Can you smell the lovely blossoms?

The turtles are loving the sun!

Did you hear the Red-bellied Woodpecker calling?

There he is, high in the trees!

More blossoms caught my eye.

Oh, now it's a grey squirrel!

And another red squirrel....

Look at all the wild flowers!

That Yellow-Rumped Warbler posed right in front of me!

Not to be outdone, so did a chickadee!

Even the butterflies posed.

And as I left, there was a Nuthatch up in the trees, hopping around.

And a couple of hikers pointed out some morel mushrooms to me.

So that was my day! Of course, all these lovely (and sometimes lively) creatures and creations required more pictures than those I posted here, but you get the idea. This world is so beautiful. I hope this inspires you to make the time to get out and enjoy it.