BS: Signs of Spring

Subject: RE: BS: Signs of Spring
From: gnu
Date: 31 Mar 03 - 01:50 PM

ENOUGH !!!! The top three sets of branches on my beautiful white pines are saggin like bog spruce branches. And the wind's pickin up. Old Man Winter must be pissed about sommat.

Subject: RE: BS: Signs of Spring
From: MMario
Date: 31 Mar 03 - 08:43 AM

yup - a day of heavy driving rain followed by four inches of snow - a sure sign of spring in these parts.

Subject: RE: BS: Signs of Spring
From: gnu
Date: 31 Mar 03 - 05:33 AM

6mm of ice on everything and snow expected this afternoon. Thank goodness my first job today is only a mile down the road. The poor robins and their friends are going to have a hard day of it. I threw a bunch of bread under the leeward eve of the house, but the robins will have to chip through the ice to get the worms stuck on top of the pave. I imagine they'll be hard to swallow.

Subject: RE: BS: Signs of Spring
From: Bobert
Date: 30 Mar 03 - 10:02 PM

Wild flowers fightin' their way up. Yesterday, before today's 4 inches of snow here in the Blue Ridge Mt in Wes Ginny, I found several stands of "Blood Root" in full bloom, "Snow Drops", "Crokus" in bloom. The "native" azalea's are startin' to bloom. We have "Tooth Wart" up and "May Apple" pokin' up. The "Larkspur" is showin' as is my rare "Twin Leaf". "Dafoldills" are budded and right now covered with buckets to keep the freeze off then tonight.

The birds couoldn't care less about todays snow. They are moving into the nesting boxes and making nests in the evergreens. The male wren filled up one nesting box today hopin' to impress some lady wren. Them boy wrens ain't got a lick of sense! A titmouse has started making a nest not 20 feet from my bedroom. Oh goodie! "pswittt, pswittt, pswittt" for the next two months. Awwww, I don't care! It's spring and I'm in love with the P-Vine! Right? Don't get no better than that!

pswitt, pswittt, pswittttttt......................

Bobert

Subject: RE: BS: Signs of Spring
From: Troll
Date: 30 Mar 03 - 09:45 PM

The Azaleas and Dogwoods have bloomed and the Sandhill Cranes have long since departed for the northern nesting grounds. The oak pollen has turned everything yellow and my allergies are roaring right along.

troll

Subject: RE: BS: Signs of Spring
From: Walking Eagle
Date: 30 Mar 03 - 08:35 PM

BASEBALL SEASON! YIPEEE!

Subject: RE: BS: Signs of Spring
From: RangerSteve
Date: 30 Mar 03 - 06:55 PM

Last week we had more birds than just the solitary robin singing in the morning. Then the daffodils bloomed. The irises and tulips are coming up. I don't have to turn the light on when I get up at 5:30 in the morning anymore. I heard a cricket the other morning, although it was in my bathroom, not outside. Frogs have come out of hibernation since the recent Delaware River flood left plenty of ponds for them. It's a sound I love. We had the first thunderstorm of the year yesterday.

And today, it's snowing.

Subject: RE: BS: Signs of Spring
From: CarolC
Date: 30 Mar 03 - 03:39 PM

We're having a sign of spring that I've never encountered before. There is pine pollen coating the cars and trucks so thick, it looks like a fine dusting of yellow snow, or the dust that's left on cars after a dust storm in Oklahoma. It's a very strange thing to see.

Padre, are you in PA, western MD, or WV?

Subject: RE: BS: Signs of Spring
From: *daylia*
Date: 30 Mar 03 - 12:04 PM

Threads like "Casual sex anyone??" on the Cat - a sure sign of Spring!

I saw my first robin on Friday, gnu - plump and rosy, happily hoppin about. But it snowed again last night, so the poor thing must be so disappointed ...

Maybe more of these hot spring threads'll help out a bit ... meeooww!

daylia

Subject: RE: BS: Signs of Spring
From: Padre
Date: 30 Mar 03 - 11:59 AM

Well, fooled again. Today there are 4+ inches of wet snow on the ground, and some more coming down. The Alleghany Highlands sure know how to welcome Spring! But the weather forecast for later in the week is back up into the 60s.

Padre

Subject: RE: BS: Signs of Spring
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 30 Mar 03 - 11:44 AM

Well Gnu, I invited them to stick around for a little while. I even mowed the lawn yesterday (when the lawn is mowed, the table is set for the birds--they follow behind the mower catching liberated bugs). They're fat and sassy and ready to head north. Just remember--the first one doesn't make it spring (sorry for the paraphrase--I can't remember the exact Aesop quote--and isn't it for a sparrow or swallow?).

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Signs of Spring
From: gnu
Date: 30 Mar 03 - 06:44 AM

I saw my first robin just a moment ago. Poor bird must have missed the forecast for tommorow of freezing rain followed by snow. Mother Nature can be such a bitch, luring these guys in with mild temperatures and mostly bare lawns.

Subject: RE: BS: Signs of Spring
From: Tinker
Date: 19 Mar 03 - 07:33 AM

We've had three unseasonably warm days. Actuallt saw 70F all three days. The snow has all disappeared, the iris, squill, and daffodill are all several inches high. Even the red peony buds are pushing up through the dirt. But beyond all of that, under a beautiful full moon the dog romped off last night and caught a skunk!! Today the temp is back to the forties and once I get folks off to school I get to wrestle 100 lbs of dog and tomatoe juice.... The sun still shines and the birds still sing...

Subject: RE: BS: Signs of Spring
From: katlaughing
Date: 19 Mar 03 - 03:45 AM

Saw my first forsythia of the spring, today. It was glorious. While the rest of Colorado is getting from 2-8 feet of snow through Thursday night(!), we have coolish, cloudy days, my irises are starting to shoot up, the globe willows are topped with green buds making them look like giant umbrellas, and the birds are gathering nesting material left and right.

Subject: RE: BS: Signs of Spring
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 18 Mar 03 - 12:48 PM

I've noticed the grackles cavorting coquettishly, and a few of them squabbling over nesting materials. We saw our first toad of the season outside the garage yesterday. The neighborhood redbuds have accelerated into spring after our ice storm of two weeks ago, and we can see that our little transplant redbud put in last summer didn't make it (or is marching to a much different drummer!). The new pines are busy putting up meristem material. Over the weekend we barbecued some chicken in a little informal brick fireplace I built last summer, and I noticed that something had toppled a couple of bricks in their enthusiasm to lick off the grill I forgot to bring in and wash. :-D

Subject: RE: BS: Signs of Spring
From: greg stephens
Date: 18 Mar 03 - 12:28 PM

WEll, here in Stoke the long-tailed tits have left the family groups they winter in and separated into pairs. The celandines opened this week, we've had daffs for a fortnight. The lungwort flowered today. An anenome yesterday. I've been taking my morning coffee outside for most of the last fortnight. yes. i think it's here. Yippee!!!!!
PS Don't think I'll bother putting out a humming-bird feeder.

Subject: RE: BS: Signs of Spring
From: Ebbie
Date: 18 Mar 03 - 12:14 PM

I got a chuckle out of this New York Times editorial. I imagine a number of you can relate:

VERLYN KLINKENBORG
"I'd like to be able to hear the snow melting. A low whoosh would do, a sigh from the snowpack as it yields to the sun's insistence. I'd settle for a barely audible scream. The sound the snowmelt actually makes — the aural glittering of a dozen rills — is too diverting to suit my darker emotional needs. At our place, we had more than a hundred inches of snow this winter. It's not enough that it should melt. It should suffer as it melts. For the past five months I've walked back and forth to the barn over a sheet of polar ice. Now it groans as I step along it. I enjoy the sound. I send the horses up and down the ice sheet, then follow in the tractor. I'm breaking up winter while I have the chance..."

Subject: RE: BS: Signs of Spring
From: Walking Eagle
Date: 16 Mar 03 - 08:54 PM

I like to stand out in my yard of a night and gaze up at the stars. Took the neighbors a little time to realize this, but they now know that I'm harmlessly nuts so they expect just about anything out of me. I like to measure things a s well and I have measured Orion for a few weeks and he is on his way home from the hunt.

Horse blankets are coming off of the residents of the barns, they are shedding their winter coats.

Subject: RE: BS: Signs of Spring
From: Amos
Date: 16 Mar 03 - 02:41 PM

Well, if they're drinking up the Great Lakes, I think it qualifies under depredations, as discussed in Kat's link. Go get 'em, boys!

Or wasn't that the point? I'm confuzzled.


A

Subject: RE: BS: Signs of Spring
From: ced2
Date: 16 Mar 03 - 02:17 PM

Wow at 24 to the pie you'd need to do a lot of baking!

Subject: RE: BS: Signs of Spring
From: katlaughing
Date: 16 Mar 03 - 09:56 AM

Grackles about 2/3rds of the way down the page.

Subject: RE: BS: Signs of Spring
From: *daylia*
Date: 16 Mar 03 - 09:12 AM

Here in Barrie On the temp was above freezing for the first time in months yesterday! Kids were running through knee-deep snow in their shorts, people outside in T-shirts celebrating. The streets look like rivers with the spring melt, my driveway is a treacherous mess of melting ice and mud right now but WHO CARES!! Bring it on ... spring is finally just around the corner!

I'm actually grateful for the heavy snowfall we got this winter - the water tables might rise to normal levels again. Water levels in the Great Lakes have been mysteriously dropping at quite an alarming rate over the last couple years. On the Trent-Severn waterway, some people's boats were sitting about 8 feet below the docks last year. Where has all the water gone?!? Some suspect the Great Lakes are being drained, the water sold to the US behind the backs of the Canadian public ... another conspiracy theory?

Oops I'm drifting - daylia

Subject: BS: Signs of Spring
From: Stephen L. Rich
Date: 16 Mar 03 - 08:11 AM

A little after 1:00 a.m. Saturday morning I saw my first sure sign that spring is around the corner. I saw a seemingly groggy rabbit. It hopped, rather shakily, up to within two feet of me (unusual for a rabbit). I'm inclined to think that it had quite recently emerged from hibernation because it gave me a look which seemed to say, "I just woke up! Who the hell are you?" Is the world ready for grumpy rabbits?

Has anyone else seen any signs of spring?

Stephen Lee

---

Message transferred from a new thread on same subject. --JoeClone

Subject: RE: BS: Signs of Spring
From: ced2
Date: 16 Mar 03 - 04:28 AM

Apparantly the Audubon Society disapprove (according to Mr Lehrer), but what the hell, the good Mr Audubon used to kill the birds before doing his diagrams. I'm not familiar with the term "grackle" are they bigger than starlings, do they make a lot of noise? I have been told that Calcium Carbide has a profound and devastating effect, that too will be illegal.

Subject: RE: BS: Signs of Spring
From: Ebbie
Date: 15 Mar 03 - 06:07 PM

gnu, I can relate to that- bright and early this morning when I took the dog out, I slipped on some hard ice on the next to the last step. I wrenched my knee and somehow folded my foot together at the same time (think ballet slipper with your hand inside, now touch heel and toe together). So today it's ice and aspirin for me.

Worse yet, because of it I wasn't able to go to the peace demonstration this morning... I hope they had a good turnout.

Tonight I'm going to music at a friend's house down a snowy driveway. Not sure yet how I'm going to hobble down it but I'll manage.

Subject: RE: BS: Signs of Spring
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 15 Mar 03 - 01:38 PM

ced2, people do that on downtown rooftops sometimes to knock off the grackles and starlings that swarm the town. It's highly illegal and it also gets some of the wrong birds along the way. (So try salt in a shotgun instead to chase them off. You're bound to knock off a few in the process).

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Signs of Spring
From: gnu
Date: 15 Mar 03 - 12:31 PM

That works for bad knees ? All along I nursed myself with aspirins and beer. I wish I'd known ! I'm on my way to the grocers for some peanuts and beer... I don't think they sell cyanide. Of course, the smokes'll take care of that eventually.

Subject: RE: BS: Signs of Spring
From: ced2
Date: 15 Mar 03 - 12:09 PM

Time for the peanuts & cyanide!

Subject: RE: BS: Signs of Spring
From: gnu
Date: 15 Mar 03 - 11:24 AM

I did a home inspection this morning. Minus 19C. I skinned my left shin and knuckles and wrenched my right knee when I punched through the ice layer six inches under the surface of the snow - twice. Went from standing in six inches of snow to wading waist deep in one step. Thank heavens I don't have another job until Monday... ice on the swollen knee and Bud on the brain. Spring ? PLEASE.

Subject: RE: BS: Signs of Spring
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 15 Mar 03 - 10:55 AM

My view across the park is turning white and grey, the first buds are showing and I can see blackthorn blossom.

Daffodils abound, even in my garden and there's glorious warm sunshine today... absolutely bloody lovely it is!

LTS

Subject: RE: BS: Signs of Spring
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 14 Mar 03 - 09:24 PM

I'll probably sleep with my window open a crack tonight. First time in ages--and soon enough it will be closed because I have the air conditioning on.

Those who bemoan the slowness of the arrival of spring can rejoice in one thing--later allergies. Our pollen levels in Texas are increasing, and I can feel the sinuses clogging as the fungus spores leap to the top of the chart. With our longer growing season we also have a longer allergy season.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Signs of Spring
From: katlaughing
Date: 14 Mar 03 - 03:07 PM

Thanks, Ebbie. There are other signs of spring, here, but that just came to me this morning and I wanted to share.:-)

I've been seeing robins now for about 3 weeks. The sparrows have begun their nest-building, and the weeping willow tree is starting to bud out. Yet, my brother remembers a huge snowstorm once on my dad's birthday, May 8th, right here in the Banana Belt of Colorado, so I'm not jumping up and down for awhile.

The only downside to it all is I love to have my windows open. My office window faces the street. While there is a decent amount of space from it to the road, I continually smelled exhaust fumes from the cars going by. Ours happens to be the only outlet road to this neighbourhood. Phew!

kat

Subject: RE: BS: Signs of Spring
From: Ebbie
Date: 14 Mar 03 - 01:10 PM

Lovely, kat.

Subject: RE: BS: Signs of Spring
From: Kim C
Date: 14 Mar 03 - 09:59 AM

We've been seeing the sprightly yellow faces of daffodils around our house. I'm just waiting till I can put the hummingbird feeder back out! And then it will be BLUEBERRY SEASON!!!!!! Hurrah!!!!!!!!

Subject: RE: BS: Signs of Spring
From: katlaughing
Date: 14 Mar 03 - 09:52 AM

Signs of Spring 2003

When the weather is warm,
No cats come to my bed,
No cozying up to my feet,
No nose tucking in soft bellies
Tight little squirrel-like circles.

They prefer instead the
Wide, rough boards of
A cool windowsill,
Noses in the air,
Catching a scent of new-born mice
Or, perhaps heat-driven couplings
In the dark.

Then, too, there are those who
Prefer a languorous glide along the carpet
Stretching, dissipating the warmth of their
Born-in fur coats.

Yet, it's early still, this springtime.
Before dawn they come creeping,
Nosing under the covers,
Draping across my body;
Regenerating the toasty of their toes
Warming me so that I toss off the blankets
And turn them out for breakfast.

© Kathleen LaFrance 2003

Subject: RE: BS: Signs of Spring
From: Bobert
Date: 13 Mar 03 - 09:31 PM

SRS reminded me of one of the first signs of spring. Skunk cabbage fir SRS but dead skunks fir me. Yeah, the skunks seem to be the first ones to the party and I've allready seen two that have been hit by cars in their pursuits! Must be spring! Skunks say so.

Hey, who needs a groundhog. What's a groundhog know about love?

Bobert

Subject: RE: BS: Signs of Spring
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 13 Mar 03 - 09:26 PM

In the Northwest my first hint of spring was usually the smell of the skunk cabbage. And the wild flowering current was always a welcome bright pink in the woods. Forsythia in the yards.

Down here in Texas some things have been trying to bloom for weeks. The saucer magnolias have been going full blast--but the ice probably nailed them pretty hard. For bragging rights, I mowed the back yard today and used the weed whacker around my little brick hearth where I barbecue. I set up the coals and singed some chicken out there this evening (it's finishing off in the oven now, to eliminate any raw bits).

I'll tell those robins they're welcome to stick around eating the bugs in my lawn until you have some ready for then, Gnu. Around here, when the lawn is mowed, the table is set as far as the birds are concerned. They come at the sound of the mower and stay a few yards behind, looking for wounded or exposed insects.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Signs of Spring
From: Ebbie
Date: 13 Mar 03 - 09:18 PM

I enjoy snow shoveling- within reason, of course- This afternoon I spent an hour and a half shoveling knee-high paths through the lawn and up the sidewalk. Beautiful. Nice change from having no snow at all.

But when it starts raining- and then freezing- whoa, Nellie!

Subject: RE: BS: Signs of Spring
From: Bobert
Date: 13 Mar 03 - 07:30 PM

Down to only 7 inches of snow in the back yard. Yea! And with a forcast of more warm days here in Wes Ginny, I'll be seeing thre yard here in a few days.

Then it will be nice for a week then 90 degree days for 6 months. Nah, I'm looking forward to a nice spring. This winter has about worn me out.

Bobert

Subject: RE: BS: Signs of Spring
From: GUEST,Peter Woodruff
Date: 13 Mar 03 - 06:57 PM

The forsythia is blooming in Arrowsic, Maine!...on my diningroom table. Does that count?

Peter

Subject: RE: BS: Signs of Spring
From: RangerSteve
Date: 13 Mar 03 - 06:40 PM

Add to my last contribution: I got my first whiff of skunk this year two nights ago, saw my first road-kill raccoon of the year yesterday, and saw some buzzards picking at some road-kill this morning. (central New Jersey, Delaware Valley).

Subject: RE: BS: Signs of Spring
From: Walking Eagle
Date: 13 Mar 03 - 05:22 PM

Alice, if your pond is small, a bit of cooking oil dropped on the top would keep the larvae from breathing and would kill them off. If you don't have other things in it such as pond grass etc.

Spring here means the end of the fox hunts. The hunts will go on for a few more weeks, so no spring here yet. But my crocuses (sp?) are bravely trying to do their thing with 2 inches of snow covwer yet.

Subject: RE: BS: Signs of Spring
From: gnu
Date: 13 Mar 03 - 12:56 PM

SRS... if any a them robins is headed for Atlantic Canada, better put out a NOTAM (Notice to Airmen) for em ta stay put... unless they're bringin snowblowers cause worms is kinna scarce just yet.

Subject: RE: BS: Signs of Spring
From: Ebbie
Date: 13 Mar 03 - 12:50 PM

Well, I suspect our ravens and eagles are huddled in dense trees today. We've got a winter storm howling - looks like Siberia out there. Usually when we have high winds, they are cold and clear. This time tiny flakes of snow are whirling around in the air and drifting against buildings and trees. My little dog acted surprised and confused this morning- he kept turning in circles as though the weather might possibly be better in a different direction...

Subject: RE: BS: Signs of Spring
From: MMario
Date: 13 Mar 03 - 10:46 AM

1/2 inch of snow last night. is cold. ground is frozen stiff where it isn't still ice covered.

Subject: RE: BS: Signs of Spring
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 13 Mar 03 - 10:33 AM

It is spring here--my neighbor across the street unpacked the rototiller and did his front flower bed on Tuesday. I'll borrow it this weekend and dig up my new veggie garden in the back yard. Our robins, who seem to spend the late winter here, are fat and ready to finish their trip north pretty soon.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Signs of Spring
From: GUEST,Raedwulf
Date: 13 Mar 03 - 08:34 AM

Nope, it's not spring till I've had a *shave*! :)>

Raedwulf, the Human Season-o-meter

P.S. That's still about two weeks away, if anyone cares... ;)

Subject: RE: BS: Signs of Spring
From: MMario
Date: 12 Mar 03 - 03:47 PM

if you can put in a small recirculating fountain in the pond, that combined with goldfish should keep mosquito larvae from the pond. mosquitos prefer stagnant water to moving water to breed.

Subject: RE: BS: Signs of Spring
From: RangerSteve
Date: 12 Mar 03 - 03:32 PM

The daffodils are sprouting and my neighbor's buffalo herd are starting to shed their winter coats.

Subject: RE: BS: Signs of Spring
From: Mantid
Date: 12 Mar 03 - 03:15 PM

Alice, about west Nile,it would be best for you to check with one of your State Universities Extension Service. They will know what is best for your region. Poisons can be very tricky. Be careful.

Subject: RE: BS: Signs of Spring
From: MMario
Date: 12 Mar 03 - 02:40 PM

geese are still flying east and west around here.

Subject: RE: BS: Signs of Spring
From: Bill D
Date: 12 Mar 03 - 02:06 PM

well, the first sign of Spring here in Wash. DC area is all the news stories about trying to predict when the cherry blossoms will bloom. They have to plan the festival months in advance, and it only coincides with actual blooms about 1 year in 6..*grin*...this year, the festival will be LONG over before we see any flowers.

Subject: RE: BS: Signs of Spring
From: Amos
Date: 12 Mar 03 - 10:55 AM

Nigel:

Quite right. And here I thought the first thing to go was whatchamacallit....

A

Subject: RE: BS: Signs of Spring
From: catspaw49
Date: 12 Mar 03 - 10:41 AM

Spring is here.......

Spaw

Subject: RE: BS: Signs of Spring
From: Alice
Date: 12 Mar 03 - 10:16 AM

The deep slush/ice layers in my driveway are melting off in the last 24 hours of warming temps. It actually got up to about 50 f. yesterday. The snow bank by the sidewalk is only about two feet deep now.

One concern I have for coming spring is that West Nile virus has reached Montana. I have a small pond by the deck that the dog likes to drink from. In the past I've put in small goldfish to eat mosquito larvae, but I'm wondering if I should add something else to the water to more effectively kill the mosquitos... but don't want to poison the dog. Anyone have a solution?

Alice

Subject: RE: BS: Signs of Spring
From: Nigel Parsons
Date: 12 Mar 03 - 09:53 AM

Amos: nice try, but replace 'beautiful' with 'Glorious' on both its appearances.
It's not Spring here until I start wearing shorts in the evenings! (could be coming soon)

Nigel

Subject: RE: BS: Signs of Spring
From: Padre
Date: 12 Mar 03 - 09:48 AM

Here in the Alleghany Highlands, the signs of spring are slowly appearing. Yesterday, 50+ red-winged blackbirds stopped by for a feed at our 'diner.' Two days ago, it was a flock of 35+ robins. Spring peepers and cardinals have begun to sing compulsively! A pair of broad-winged hawks have been doing elaborate aerobatics over the hill behind the house, and goldfinches are starting to show up at the thistle feeder. Yep, spring is coming!

Subject: RE: BS: Signs of Spring
From: gnu
Date: 12 Mar 03 - 06:37 AM

Today :   Cloudy with occasional light snow developing later this morning. Accumulation less than 5 cm. High near zero.   Tonight :   Cloudy with wet flurries ending this evening. Clearing overnight. Low near minus 15.

Zero !!! Yup, spring in New Brunswick is only a month to two months away. Speaking of birds, last night, the seagulls were circling and swooping on the last sunlight of the day, playfully signalling the lengthening of daylight hours. During winter, they'd be headed straight for their roosts, but with extended sunshine, they can hang around until after supper hour, which is when many people put out their garbage. Spring is everywhere...

Subject: RE: BS: Signs of Spring
From: Amos
Date: 12 Mar 03 - 12:33 AM

Mud! Mud! Beautiful mud!
Nothing quite like it for cooling the blood!
So follow me, follow,
Down to the hollow,
And there let us wallloooow
In beautiful Mud!

(Flanders and Swann, IIRC)

Subject: RE: BS: Signs of Spring
From: bbc
Date: 11 Mar 03 - 09:05 PM

mud!

Subject: RE: BS: Signs of Spring
From: Ebbie
Date: 11 Mar 03 - 08:04 PM

Spaw, it's still a little too chilly out there to strip and prance around on the lawns. sigh

Subject: RE: BS: Signs of Spring
From: Bee-dubya-ell
Date: 11 Mar 03 - 07:41 PM

Yeh, Spring is here. And we've had so damned much rain I can't even plant a garden. Kinda hard to roto-till mud. At least all the blueberry bushes have already bloomed so they won't get their little blossoms frozen off by that "unexpected late cold snap" that seems to come just about every year. And the pond's warming up so I'll have to start feeding the fish again. Already had a buncha toads doing their mating thing so it'll be tadpoles up the wazoo soon, followed by trying to walk without stepping on baby toads soon after.

Bruce

Subject: RE: BS: Signs of Spring
From: catspaw49
Date: 11 Mar 03 - 07:14 PM

Uh-oh.....Ebbie's gettin' HOT!!!

Spaw

Subject: RE: BS: Signs of Spring
From: *daylia*
Date: 11 Mar 03 - 07:13 PM

Well, springtime must be drawing near - the fingerprints on my windows are getting so thick I can hardly see the mountains of snow out there any more (darn!) and it's still too cold to wipe them off.

And here's another hopeful sign - the annual Frog-watch has begun in Ireland!   Happy hoppin ..... Rrrribit!

daylia

Subject: RE: BS: Signs of Spring
From: Amos
Date: 11 Mar 03 - 06:44 PM

Whatm they were afraid you'd find out what they'd been up to and try it?? **bg**

It's gotta be spring!


A

Subject: RE: BS: Signs of Spring
From: Ebbie
Date: 11 Mar 03 - 05:55 PM

Last night I watched a PBS show on songwriters, people like Cole Porter, Warren, Arlen and lots more. At a certain point in watching Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers dance it suddenly occurred to me that it was a literal mating dance, as much so as watching dancing cranes or any other eager twosomes.

No wonder my parents disapproved of dancing! :)

Subject: RE: BS: Signs of Spring
From: Amos
Date: 11 Mar 03 - 05:01 PM

Those are the ones with the sort of whinging call that goes "lookameeemeeemeee" from sunrise to sunset, aren't they, Rap?

I think the Kentucky variant is just a subspecies of Teenius Homo Sapiens-niente, if memory serves.

A

Subject: RE: BS: Signs of Spring
From: Rapparee
Date: 11 Mar 03 - 04:57 PM

The Redbreasted Kentucky Teengirl is again shedding her plumage in the hope of attracting the attentions of the male of the species. I've seen flocks of them gathering around the gas stations and malls.

And the Pubescent Kentucky Teenboy is doing HIS ritual mating dance, too. He is a lot more annoying than the female.

Subject: RE: BS: Signs of Spring
From: Peg
Date: 11 Mar 03 - 04:56 PM

it's still cold here and lots of snow and ice still to melt away. So different from the springs of the last few years which started arriving in January! This is closer to "normal" than those too-mild winters but it has actually been colder than normal here. We get warmer temps later this week. Once the ground softens a bit and the gardening starts it will feel like spring!
Daylight saving time must be ending soon, too...

Subject: RE: BS: Signs of Spring
From: CarolC
Date: 11 Mar 03 - 04:54 PM

Spring is in full bloom here (Columbus, Georgia, USA). Trees are flowering and the grass is getting tall enough to cut. We've had the windows open a lot the last several days.

Subject: RE: BS: Signs of Spring
From: Amos
Date: 11 Mar 03 - 04:47 PM

Spaw -- does the expression "obsession" mean anything to you? Do you feel you've lost something over the years?

Ebbie:

No mistake -- thejackets and sweaters are coming off and short sleeved tech company shirts are back in fashion. It's gotta be Spring!!


A

Subject: RE: BS: Signs of Spring
From: catspaw49
Date: 11 Mar 03 - 04:21 PM

"On my walk this morning, I saw a raven with a chunk of something white in its beak land on a tree branch and share the food with the other one to the tune of some mellow chortling.".........Was John Bobbitt in the area?

Spaw

Subject: BS: Signs of Spring
From: Ebbie
Date: 11 Mar 03 - 04:10 PM

On my walk this morning, I saw a raven with a chunk of something white in its beak land on a tree branch and share the food with the other one to the tune of some mellow chortling.

And eagles are calling each other, flying together, landing close together, white heads eminently visible in the conifers...

Can spring be far away?