Spring's Puffy Prelude
+ Micro-Seasons Twenty-Five through Thirty
And just like that—the first light of spring has arrived! It’s not only the extra hour in the evening that thrills, or the fact that we’re gaining three to four minutes of daylight each day as we climb toward the summer solstice. It’s something else. Something about the quality and depth of light that shines on the PNW around the middle of March. A quality which is exceptional and vastly different than what we’ve seen in a very long time.
When I was spending time with film cameras, March and September were my favorite months to take pictures. The equilibrium of daylight during those two months makes everything here seem more crisp and yet softer too; ethereal but also solid. Out here the equinoxes work a strange kind of magic on the human eye, and I’m all in. (The light in March and September remind me a little of Los Angeles, where the angle of light is mesmerizing all year long.)
And if the change of light isn’t enough to get you going, then how about the song sparrows singing their tiny little hearts out; deft squirrels hurrying to go…wherever; Northern flickers flicking on the roofs; robins perching, juncos flitting; the metallic rattle-trill of the red-winged blackbird; impossibly green and tender blades of grass bursting up everywhere. Daffodils. Friends, there’s no question: spring is springing itself upon us!
And even if you didn’t notice any of that—no matter. Just look out toward the horizon. Do you see those puffed up, pudgy-looking clouds? All silvery-slipped and voluptuous against the cobalt sky? Yes, those are spring-fed, heaven sent water sculptures, rolling on by, waving “helloooooo…”
Thank you, March! (For the record, I forgive you for your frigid and altogether impolite entrance.)
In just a few days the spring equinox will arrive, a milestone that this year will signify not only the beginning of a new season, but the halfway mark of my Micro-Seasons exercise which I started on September 23rd. It feels like I’m in the easy part right now. There’s so much changing every day, I have to whittle down my observations to what is most prominent or most surprising to me.
I’m not complaining. It’s glorious out there.
Micro-Seasons Twenty-Five Through Thirty
January 21st - February 20th
Twenty-Five—Snowberry leaf buds emerge: Jan 21st - 25th
Twenty-Six—The mid-winter light softens: Jan 26th - 30th
Twenty-Seven—Threads of nettle tips ascend: Jan 31st - Feb 4th
Twenty-Eight—Salmonberry leaf buds emerge: Feb 5th - 9th
Twenty-Nine—Yellow flowers of the Oregon grape cascade: Feb 10th - 15th
Thirty—On white elder branches, leaf plumes plump: Feb 16th - 20th
Leave a comment and let me know: what are you noticing right now? What is your favorite sign of spring?