First things first.
The snow has melted. The geese are honking their way northward. Last night M saw bats, and we heard the songs of foreign birds, traveling through, making joyful trilling melodies we’d never heard before in our little corner of Vermont. The river is riding high on its banks, and with today’s steady rain it might decide to creep over the ledge to see what it’s like to spread out over the fields. I haven’t heard a spring peeper yet, but the vernal ponds are thawed and shimmering. It’s only a matter of moments.
I hear tell of people in other places who’ve seen crocuses and other early bulbs; not just their green pointy fingers thrown up through the soil, but actual blooms, blossoms, petals.
Not here. Not yet.
(Thank goodness, by the way, for trucks and airplanes that transport roses with flame-tipped petals from southern hot houses to the the mud-bound north.)
But yesterday we brought the hibernating garden hose out of the basement, attached it to the the outdoor spigot, and used it to fill the goats’ water tank. If that’s not a sign of spring, I don’t know what is.
This long, lingering winter’s left me fairly brittle. Slow to thaw. But this week I’m starting to unclench just a little, to unfurl. I’m not ready to bloom yet, but I felt the warm sun on my head yesterday, and I felt a softening where the ice has held fast.
The baby apple and pear trees, which were up to their throats in snow just two weeks ago, are covered with brown buds, potential blossoms, but there’s no sign yet of their opening (I check every day). Fairly soon, though, everything will be bursting into spring and we’ll be mowing the lawn and slapping at mosquitoes.
For my birthday this year, M & H gave me a beehive. And 10,000 bees and their queen. We bring the bees home on Saturday. Listen up, buds! You’d better start blooming. We’ve got some pollen and nectar to gather!
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These photos and post are in response to this week’s theme for the 52 Photos Project. You should participate, too! Read about how it works here. You can see a gallery of everyone’s photos for this week’s theme here. To see a list of all my blog posts for this project, go here.
Grongar 
Finally. Wood frogs are singing their heads off in my pond. (I know they are wood frogs, ’cause I emailed VPR about them and their herpetologist answered my question on air today. Woot.) Better not snow tonight, just sayin’.
Amen to that!
Did your bees arrive? And also, where did you get them from so early? I have one hive that survived winter but the others did not. I am getting more “nucs” in June though, but it’s hard for me to ever come by more bees before May. So I am very curious Have a wonderful time with them. I love keeping bees.
Also, I love your blog. Beautiful photos, beautiful prose.
Thanks for your kind comments, Tammy! We got our bees on Sunday. We got our bees from this place in Merrimack, NH: http://www.hillsidebees.com/. Sorry to hear that some of your hives didn’t survive. I’ve heard that from others, too, this year. Brutal winter.
I’m still drooling over those roses! And how exciting you’re getting bees! Bees! I went to a honey harvesting party once. HOT work. But that raw honey was delicious.