Whew! We’ve left Winter in the rear-view mirror and Spring officially arrived on Saturday. Of course, that is just “calendar Spring” and doesn’t mean we won’t still see ice and snow, nor endure more cold temps, but the angle of the sun will feel good on our faces and definitely will help that pesky snow to melt quickly.
The sun perks us all up and nothing is better than a good shadow day, despite the cold temps.
After a warmer-than-average, snow-free November, then up to Christmas Eve, it HAD been my kind of Winter. We were spoiled until we had several inches of “mood snow” for Christmas Day. After it melted away, we had a great January and I was able to walk almost every day to/from and around Council Point Park, save for a few rainy mornings where we hovered at the freezing mark, so I didn’t venture out.
But then the Peanut and Snack Angel’s crown began to tarnish a little.
It was all good until Mother Nature got a bee in her bonnet and cranked up the ol’ snow machine. February 4th we got measurable snow and some freezing drizzle, which kept me from any trips to the Park for about a week. I had to walk in the plowed and salted street to get back and forth to the Park because it was safer than navigating icy sidewalks. We just cleared up that mess, when we got the eight-inch (20 cm) snowfall, plus a little snow every day for a week, along with the Polar Vortex. Because it was so cold, the City didn’t plow or salt the streets. Ugh!! Winter held NO appeal for me for most of February. I am sure my furry friends beat a path over to where I’ve designated as their usual feeding stations, hoping I might have been by, while I stewed and fretted over them like a mother hen, knowing their nut stash was useless beneath mounds of snow and frozen turf.
But I finally made another snowy and frozen foray on February 21st.
I was hoping my furry and feathered pals remembered who I was. I wondered if I could access the space beneath the tree and the little hideaway where I tuck their treats on the stump and spread across the log. Did I need high boots, or could I wear my lug-soled hiking boots which would help me navigate the icy patches much better? Decisions, decisions … I wore the lug-soled boots as I finally headed out the door, wearing multiple layers, toting bags of treats and on a mission to feed the hungry and rack up some steps. At the Park the snow was mounded up high – it looked beautiful and pristine as few people had tracked through it yet.
As I suspected, the path was dicey and icy in many spots. But I had to wade through the high snow to get under the tree. Yes, like before, there were lots of squirrel footprints – the squirrels had jumped from tree to tree and gone to The Safe Haven Tree, then scurried down the trunk to the ground. I stomped out a bigger area under the tree so I could spread out treats. Soon my furry pals were noshing nuts and the shriek of Jays filled the air.
I left my peanut pals happily crunching and munching and started along the path, which had been plowed, but was not totally clear and was icy, as you see in the header image and below.
Long-dead teasels lined the Creek banks – look how bleak it looks in the heart of Winter.
Snow had piled onto branches – no movement by birds or squirrels here. I suspected most were staying in their respective nests.
But then Parker came over, his face covered with snow and looked up at me. Not the greatest shot of my pal, but I wanted to scoop him up and take him home with me.
Soon I was at my second stop, the small alcove with the stump and fallen log. I headed over, stepping into snow banks and submerging my boots up to my calves. After cleaning off the stump and log, I poured out peanuts and sunflower seeds and watched my furry pals scamper out of the woodwork.
After tendering treats, I was off again, treading carefully, taking baby steps and walking gingerly while navigating icy patches.
The cement ledge was snowy and the Creek was frozen over and piled high with snow.
The pathway area around the pavilion was similarly slick and icy, so I opted to just walk through the snow which I deemed safer. I stopped to get a shot of some icicles.
My parting shot that particular day was the park bench looking pretty desolate here, BUT …
… a few weeks later we got a brief thaw.
That bit of balmy weather helped thaw out the Ecorse Creek. The Mallards were elated they could waddle around on those bright-orange feet, then plop into the Creek for a quick wash-up, then a preening session. You can see their joy to be back to their routine again, just as I was glad to return to my own routine.
And now it is Spring … glorious Spring. How do I know?
Though the landscape is still pretty blah, it’s always fun to guess when I’ll see the first delicate Snowdrops blooming in the ‘hood.
Every bit of green is a welcome “Spring Thing” in my opinion.
Robins, like Spring flowers, (and even weeds), are popping up everywhere. Often they greet me with a glare, or a suspicious look …
… or I’ll see Robin Redbreast with its ear tuned to the worm station (and also one eye on me to ensure I’m not stealing any worms or grubs).
The trill of the Red-Winged Blackbird perched in a tree, or the reeds at the marsh area of the Park in early March, is always a thrill to my ears.
There are buds on trees – how many days or weeks ’til they open?
Even Harry the Heron is hepped up, as soon he won’t shiver while he scopes out fish in water up to his knees in the murky Creek water.
With the advent of Spring, everything is alright within my world again … well, almost. That pesky COVID thing lingers. But thankfully, I have my go-to spot to forget about the trials and tribulations we call life.
Linda Schaub
WALKIN', WRITIN', WIT & WHIMSY 
Very nice
On Mon, 22 Mar 2021, 2:02 PM WALKIN’, WRITIN’, WIT & WHIMSY, wrote:
> Linda Schaub posted: ” Whew! We’ve left Winter in the rear-view mirror and > Spring officially arrived on Saturday. Of course, that is just “calendar > Spring” and doesn’t mean we won’t still see ice and snow, nor endure more > cold temps, but the angle of the sun will feel good” >
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Thank you Lillywhite63 … glad you liked it. (I had to rescue you from the SPAM filter.)
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I love the picture of Parker looking up at you! He seems to be asking if you’ll be coming back sooner than you did last time. I have to agree, every bit of green is a welcome “Spring Thing.” 🙂 Those are pretty handsome portraits of the robin. Amazing how well-adapted to the ice the mallards are — those orange feet brighten up the scenery. It looks like your squirrel friends made it though the winter in good shape.
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I almost didn’t put that Parker pic in here Barbara as it was kind of small and darkish, but the look on his face is really so sad and pitiful, I had to put it in. He looks at me like that all the time, but looked a little sadder with the snow on his face. Our robins have been around for at least a month – those two were right up close. Glad you liked them. The mallards always are cheerful looking – middle of Winter and there they are. I think everyone made it through the brutal cold, snow and entire Winter okay.
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Even if the lighting didn’t show Parker’s face well, his body language said it all…
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This is true Barbara and I could entitle that picture “Great Expectations!” He sure is a cutie pie sometimes.
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A wonderful group of photos, winter is disappearing and to see the spring flowers start is just wonderful. I have not seen any of those yet. The squirrels look happy to have a snack. 🙂
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Glad you liked the photos Sandra. I do think that Winter has its own beauty, though it is nicer to enjoy it without shoveling snow or navigating around on foot, or in a vehicle, on ice and snow. Yes, the squirrels were happy to see me – it had been a long time and the ground was too snowy and frozen to access their stash.
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Nice shots but I hope we’ve put snow behind us for this year!
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Thanks Kate – oh, I hope so too. We have a rainy week in store which isn’t great news, but as long as it’s not snow, I’m happy.
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I’m breathing easier, knowing you are walking again. Our birdbath was frozen over two mornings ago. We went to the creek today, though. The sun is so much warmer than it was a few weeks ago!
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Thank you – I am happy to be back to my regular amount of miles. I walked 11 miles this past weekend but we have a mostly rainy week in store. That sun makes all the difference in the world. We got to almost 70 today, but that is not the norm for March here in SE Michigan. The Creek thawed out, then we got cold again, but it was not hard enough to walk on, unless you were a heron or squirrel.
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We were up to 60 degrees today.
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Unbelievably, I can top that as we had near 70 and also today and tomorrow, then back to normal weather. This is still not normal for us.
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Linda – amazing photos with your clever title and fun phrases (like bee in bonnet) and whew – Mother Nature is so unpredictable and you are right – the “calendar Spring” does not mean the cold weather is done.
top two pics today:
Like that down view of the boots and the fork in the path
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Thank you Yvette. I wanted to show just how wintry the Park was and how icy that trail really was. I was uncomfortable walking there in that ice. They did plow, but snow melt did not help matters at all. I thought the lug-soled boots and all the snow would give a good visual – thank you for noticing all these things. 🙂
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I like seeing photos of snow, but then I remember how much I don’t like walking through the stuff while worried about falling. Like you I am pleased it is spring.
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The City has been plowing the path, but the thaw/refreeze makes it treacherous sometimes. I usually walk in the snow next to the path, but the beginning photos were after the eight-inch snowfall and the snow was too high. Thank goodness it is Spring and hopefully no more ice worries.
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Beautiful winter scenes! I am always intrigued by all the animal footprints in the snow, but am not very good at figuring out which animal left them. Spring is in full bloom here with new flowers appearing every day. So glad to be able to get out and enjoy nature again — at least until the mosquitoes come out.
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I am not good with the tracks either and when I saw some odd-looking tracks on the snow-covered ice a month ago, I reached out to a Facebook group that identifies tracks. They had fun with it, trying out wild turkeys, a few raptors and settled on a heron’s tracks. That surprised me as I’ve seen the herons walk on the ice, but not when snow is piled up on that ice.
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Miss Linda………………………it must be springtime…………………..I saw my first Robin hopping on the ground and getting a worm!…………………………………..and I’ve already seen crocuses coming up!……………………and…………………………….i just today PUT AWAY THE SHOVEL AND PAIL OF SALT FOR THE OTHER RESIDENTS TO USE FROM OUR DREADFUL WINTER……………….
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It is a sight for sore eyes isn’t it Ann Marie? That warm-up over the weekend brought out the crocuses which I swear were not there yesterday. I hope you don’t need that shovel and pail of salt until at least December!
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I really enjoyed all of your pictures Linda. Parkers snowy face is so precious!!! I think you had WAY more snow than we did this past winter.Onwards and upwards to spring…woo hoo!
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Glad you liked the pictures Diane – we are glad to leave Winter behind. You had that one whopper storm just before us I believe. We got the snow at Christmas and that 8-inch snowfall in February. Hope that is the end of snow and cold! Parker is so cute – I know the picture was kind of dark, but I had to show him looking up and his face covered with snow … great expectations!
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That was a good summary of winter Linda. I have to agree February was a horrible month, but the rest of the winter has been okay and I’m thinking we’ll have an early and warmer spring this year. I remember last spring, with the snow on the tulips in early May and it so cold right up until June. My neighbour weed-whacked all the snowdrops in his back yard, and I have always so enjoyed looking at them through my kitchen window. They tore up their garden last year and didn’t want any flowers??? Can’t understand how anyone could destroy such beauty, but they are hardy souls and will come up again next year.
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Thank you Joni – Winter in February was the pits for cold, snow and ice. I remember your tulips in the snow. I had the photos of roses in the snow a few years back from a freak early November snow and ice storm. We have a meteorologist who predicts/forecasts for all of Michigan, not just locally and he predicts a very warm Summer this year. One extreme to the next. After the neighbors across the street both passed away, their sons decided to sell the house and did it the quickest way possible, just sold it to someone who buys houses and takes care of repairs, etc., then sells it. The landlord of this house ripped out all the flower gardens out front and the side … she had tulips and daffodils planted 60 + years before … they plowed up what they thought was all, but a small bunch of daffs are blooming now.
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A few of my daffodils are almost out. One of my neighbours weed-whacked all his snowdrops? Who could destroy such beauty. They had torn out the garden and laid new sod last fall and were annoyed that the flowers had come up through the grass? I don’t understand people sometimes….but they’re not gardeners. They’ll probably get rid of the daffodils clumps too.
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In Marge’s house (next door), after the elderly woman died who had roses all around the perimeter of her yard, in every available space, the house stood vacant a year or so, and he/wife moved in. The first thing he did was knock down the dainty white wooden fence that secured the backyard from the driveway and which had a backdrop of roses so you hardly saw the fence. He knocked it down and built a wooden shed to do woodwork in, hauled in a small trailer and a small boat … this house was about a lot and a half. My mom and I were a bit horrified. Then he wanted a second shed to put his lawnmower in, so he knocked down more rosebushes and put in a metal shed.
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That’s sad esp when it took so long to establish the rose bushes. People have no appreciation of nature. Going to post my eagle blog (minus the eagle) before going to bed.
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Yes, it left us shaking our heads on why he would rip everything out. The elderly widow that had lived there moved into the house with her husband many years before. He bought her one pink rosebush as a gift and she propagated that one pink rosebush into all the rosebushes in her yard … so what a beautiful yard, all gone to waste.
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Thanks to you all the squirrels are fatter in the Spring then when Winter began! Your going to have to put them on a diet plan.
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Ha ha – they must get their svelte shapes back before Summer, so they can sploot and not look like beached whales!
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I have a idea!………get about 40 or 50 of your furry friends together,tether them up to a sled with wheels and have them pull you around the Park! They’ll be working for peanuts I bet!
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Surely all those crunchin’, munchin’ peanut eaters could pull me on a sled … I’ll suggest it to them next year. I already suggested goody bags to take up to their nests for when I can’t make it and they looked at me … you know, the head tilt.
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you need to get Alvin and his pals to translate!
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Yes, as Alvin, Simon and Theodore understood David (their human parent). 🙂
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Is it just me or did spring kind of pounce all of a sudden? Winter here had been quite mild until February, but suddenly I am buying mulch.
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I agree with you JP. We had two warm weeks in a row and buds are everywhere. We have rain every day for five days so real Spring-like weather.
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Oh, looking at those snowy photos brought back my anti-winter feelings all over again! I hope we are done with the white stuff for the year. We have forecasted highs in the 70s this week. I took my grandsons to the park yesterday and didn’t freeze to death!.
That photo of Parker is so cute. He was so happy to see you. He probably frets and worries about you when you don’t show up for a few days.
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Winter angst … especially when you see all that ice on the pathway. They plowed but didn’t salt when we got the 8-inch snowfall and ice was a real problem. We had the 70s yesterday/today/tomorrow, but rain the rest of the week. It felt great walking in a light jacket yesterday. Today I just walked at the grocery store before my shot and went shopping afterward.
Parker really is cute and especially with the snow on his nose. I think he worries too and he and his brethren have a new worry with the ducks and geese eating their treats. I’ll be doing a post on it in the next few weeks. I have to have a new feeding strategy for the squirrels and birds.
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“… a good shadow day…” – what a nice description of forthcoming Spring. Your February sounded like our March – “the storm track” as local weather likes to call it, where every other day brings several more inches of the white stuff. As you say, at least spring snow melts faster. Colorado welcomes its abundant water content as well.
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Yes, your March was brutal with that snowstorm which we heard about here and I followed the photos on Accuweather as well. We have five days of rain in a row and we need it now, plus a hot and dry Summer is already predicted. I used to refer to “good shadow days” more in my earlier blogging days. In fact, I had a picture of Parker and me on the path on a sunny day in March. It was a fun picture – he was not that close, but our shadows made it seem that way:
https://lindaschaubblog.net/2018/03/05/me-and-my-shadow-2/
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Spring is springing here as well, Linda! And I am very happy about it. Your winter scenes are delightful! I love seeing all the beautiful snowy landscapes in your pictures without having to bundle up myself. Winter was very mild here except for the one ice storm. Soon we will all have more sunshine and warmer temps to help us through the rest of Covid. 🙂
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That snow is pretty if you don’t need to deal with it – if you’re bundled up, it is refreshing but the pathway at times, as you saw in the header photo and others, was icy and a little treacherous. I’m hoping we’ve seen the end of Winter Sabine. We have a five-day spate of rainy days … off/on rain and 40 mph winds on Friday. We were 72 degrees today … it was nice, but not normal at all for the last week in March.
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The weather’s been crazy everywhere! It’s supposed to get nice here over the weekend and I am ready to go outside and soak up some sun rays. I hope your weather improves so you can do the same!
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We had a pretty good week so today’s rain spoiled our track record but we really needed the rain. We are supposed to have a very warm Spring and hot Summer (if their predictions hold). We also have off/on rain all weekend, so sun might be at a premium. It is still an improvement over the Winter anytime and I hope we’ve seen the last of the white stuff too!
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That shot of Parker cracks me up! 🙂
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I am glad you liked it Tom – it cracks me up too because he looks so pitiful with that snow-covered face. A thought bubble over his head should read “Linda, I was digging in the snow looking for peanuts – I can’t find them, so help me please!!”
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What a wonderful reunion you had with your pals. This spring has been quite good compared to some that we have had. I can’t believe March is almost over but I’m certainly not complaining. We don’t have snow drops but the crocuses are blossoming and adding the first touches of color to the landscape. Great photos as always.
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Yes, I don’t know who was happier to see the other … I fretted over not getting down to see them and feed them as they were used to me showing up nearly every day. March was not bad at all – I don’t think it snowed in March did it? I can remember whopper ice storms where I had to walk down the street to catch the bus and it was a skating rink. Glad you liked the pictures Ruth – my favorite was Parker looking up at me with such a sad and snowy face. 🙂
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