breaking for spring

post #380
         This time by "spring break" I mean that I'm taking a break from posts featuring my note cards.  Instead, today, I am posting the photos I made in mid March, mostly ones down by the creek. In the time I had I couldn't find any early blooms, even though it was technically spring! However, there are always things to see, no matter what the calendar shows.

         First, to set the scene and to go with last week's duo, here are additional winter photos, also taken in March:

early morning clarity on the 21st

Three days later, where's the driveway this time?!?

blanketed, in the back, nearby the barn

 Celebrating a day without rain, snow or whatever by walking in the woods:

winter feast collections

evidence that the rattlesnake plantain survived the winter, as always. This phrase I lifted from the internet:
This evergreen orchid is a perennial rhizomatous herb of the forest floor. It's an ORCHID! I didn't know!

Later I saw another grouping, this time with the stem left from 2017.  I tried to focus the photo to be mostly on the stem so that it could be seen better.  Even with all the walking that happens on the path to the waterfall, these common plants seem to thrive. In fact, I wonder if we spread them by chance with our walking....

These two photos show the creek when it joins another, all on the way to the waterfalls. I was standing in the same spot for both photos, about to cross over the creek below to follow the path.

All kinds of moss are along the bank on the non-stream side of the path.

And of course there is the wonder of clear water flowing, in the creek.

I wish that all creeks could be so pristine and safe, for the sake of wildlife and for the sake of human beings who live on this planet. I am still shocked that one of first thing negated by the new administration in D.C. was the stream saver bill, which took years of work to get in place, which made common sense, and which would make such a difference in the health of people who happen to live near where mining happens.  Actually, since we all live downstream, the new regulation would have helped generations of families who want to make Appalachia and Kentucky a better place in which to live and work.  I think about this every time I see this little "beginner stream" carrying clean water out into the wider world.

I discovered this collection of treasures on the steep hillside near the first waterfall, in the base of a very tall tree. I would have suspected little creatures at work, but when I asked my granddaughter later about what I found, she told me she had indeed done it! I loved finding it.

And I saw this second sighting on the way back, on the path. As I often say, you just never know.

Am writing this on April 1, so I am looking forward to a month of flowers and surprises. Since moving to Kentucky 45 years ago, April has become my favorite month; it's so beautiful. These photos definitely benefit from being seen larger -- try the click on one, see them all line up in order, and then find the one(s) you want.