Spring has Sprung

The first picture on the right was taken outside our place on a clear day in mid-January. I caught one tenacious, dried up maple leaf hanging on the tree. It’s a small example of the brown winters here. We had very little snow this year due to the relatively warm temperatures, so most of the time we were looking at brown grass and dried leaves. This dormant period in Southern Ohio seems more dreary and lifeless to me than it did growing up in Minnesota. There the snow covered most of the barren landscape. Although the trees were bare, a cold, clear day there with light reflecting off clean snow just didn’t seem so depressing.

What a difference 3 months makes. We are now several weeks into Spring and it seems like everything is blooming like crazy. In the second picture, I caught a bee looking for nectar in the blossoms of a tree outside out front door (click on the photo for a larger version). I posted several other flower photos on Flickr of trees and bushes around our complex. Scroll through the photo stream to see them all. I’m always amazed at the transformations associated with the changing seasons. The transition from the dormant Winter to the Spring renewal is one of my favorites.