If you watch carefully (not while driving, please) you should start to notice a tinge of fresh color appearing across the crowns of deciduous trees in our North Country. On most the color will be a faint shade of green; on some, pinkish, maroonish, or redish; and on others, yellowish tones. Leaf buds are bursting. The slightest edges of leaves are beginning to appear. Winter's drab browns and grays are being overpainted with Spring's fresh coats of living color.
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| late April leaf development
Photo by J. Harrington
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The real change won't occur for another four to six or more weeks. By then leaf out will be well along and trees will again look more clothed than naked. During that period, we may, or may not, get one or more significant snowfalls. We haven't seen any analysis yet, but have the impression that our weather patterns are definitely getting more volatile. That can be difficult to adapt to. Ask a local farmer.
Spring in the North Country is an unsettled season at best. Climate breakdown seems to be making it more so. We spent almost all morning waiting for the temperature to rise above freezing. Next week the forecast daily high temperatures will double over a three or four day period from mid-30s to mid-70s. Remember the old saying about "if you don't like the weather, wait a minute, it'll change?" We think it was first uttered in Springtime in Minnesota.
Between forest and field, a threshold like stepping from a cathedral into the street— the quality of air alters, an eclipse lifts, boundlessness opens, earth itself retextured into weeds where woods once were. Even planes of motion shift from vertical navigation to horizontal quiescence: there’s a standing invitation to lie back as sky’s unpredictable theater proceeds. Suspended in this ephemeral moment after leaving a forest, before entering a field, the nature of reality is revealed.
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Please be kind to each other while you can.
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