I think we’ve finally made it to Spring. The calendar said it was spring a few weeks ago, but the weather just caught on and I believe it is all good from here. There is still snow and ice in the shadier parts of the woods, but I noticed this west-facing hillside as I drove along a road that gets enough sun so there was only a bit of the white stuff around.
Initially it was my intention to visit some vernal pools and, hopefully, find some sign of salamander or newt activity. But on Rattlesnake Gutter Road, which is named for the geological feature that had snakes rather than disemboweling them, there was still a lot of ice and snow and the pools were partially frozen so a few more days remaining for the migration and mating. As for “Gutter”, see this post by Steve Schwartzman concerning the roots of the word.
With no herps to shoot, I settled for this view of trees in a diagonal lineup. I liked that aspect as well as the others just behind in a second line.
This is a less than attractive time of the year. What snow remains is dirty and covered with fallen debris from the trees. The ground is soggy and only the moss offers any hint of greenery. But it will just be a few days or a week or two for the arrival of ephemerals.
Stephen Gingold Nature Photography Blog 
And…as a bye the bye…here is a comment from my spam folder. Who the heck writes this stuff?
“I take been exploring for a lilliputian second for whatsoever high-timbre articles or weblog posts on this
kind oof field . Exploring in Bumpkin I ultimately stumbed upon this internet site.
Meter reading this entropy So i’m gladiola
to prove that I undergo a real but correct preternatural touch
I base taboo simply what I needful. I so often without doubt wish wee-wee sure as shooting
to do not give out to recall this vane website and
hold it a calculate on a continuing foundation.”
I just don’t understand why they bother. This is probably just a bad Google Translate job, but what the hey. 🙂
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Parts of it are so close to making sense. I think it is computer generated, not a person at all. Some automated bots are after you.
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I think you are right and if so then they have been on my trail for a while now.
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I agree, re: the Google translate. Most of the time, I pay no attention to the spam folder other than to clear it out from time to time. But you piqued my curiosity, so I did a quick scan, and found this. I almost (almost!) was tempted to send along a note. Yes, I’m a sucker for a good story. From the spam folder:
“Today, I went to the beachfront with my kids. I found a sea shell and gave it to my 4 year old daughter and said “You can hear the ocean if you put this to your ear.” She put the shell to her ear and screamed. There was a hermit crab inside and it pinched her ear. She never wants to go back! I know this is entirely off topic but I had to tell someone!”
Oh, my.
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That’s a good one. Every once in a while I get something similar but not that good. Oh my indeed. That reminded me of the time my family went for a pickanick (my inner Yogi) and my brother took a bite from his peanut butter and jelly sandwich only to discover a bee had been on the jelly.
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Green lace is appearing here. Birds are active with a lot of song, and brightening colors. The goldfinches are ripening. Rhubarb is up and not harmed by last night’s frost.
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Thanks for the encouraging progress report, Melanie. I think we’ll get a jump start over the next week.
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I really favor the second photo. I like the cross-hatch effect created by the trees and the rocks, and the variety of colors, textures, and natural forms. I’ve decided I’m not really a fan of smoothed-out water, but I very much like things like snow remnants and rivulets of fresh, spring water. And those trees. They’re so straight — beautiful.
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I really enjoy finding a pattern within the chaos of a forest and was really happy to find the line of trees.
I remember that you mentioned your preference for a harder flow in water images. I often soften the water to emphasize the textural contrast between the water and, in this case, the rocks.
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Outstanding scenes Steve. I used to enjoy exploring areas such as this when I lived up north.
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Thanks, Phil. I didn’t realize that you had lived up this way.
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Neither herps nor herbs, but rocks still rock.
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And so they always shall.
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Many a shell shall too.
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Two nice shots of spring scenery in this somewhat ‘difficult’ season to photograph:) I am looking for inspiration for pictures but everything seems very ‘brown’ out there. But in a couple of weeks these should be some greenery starting to pop up here.
And now I’ll have to check my spam folder to see if there is some fun stuff in there:)
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We can fight the brown or embrace it. I have to admit, my first impulse was to roll over and stay in bed a little longer. 🙂
The greens will be here before we know it. Thanks, Inger.
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Interesting … your foliage is way ahead of ours but we have no remaining snow or ice. Started the mower today … just to see if it would! Both of your scenes cry out hard scrabble New England ‘soil.’
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What foliage are you referring to? I only see moss and hemlocks which are green through the winter.
Yeah, pretty rocky choices yesterday. I went for softer ground today. I haven’t tried the mower yet but the chainsaw is coming back out later.
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Oops .. Joanna would be disappointed to know that I assumed those were deciduous!
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We’ll keep it between us. 🙂
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The second pic gets my attention with all the wonderful boulders of rocks. And the moss which I love. Do you have rattlers in Mass? Such as eastern diamondback or some such snake?
You all mention spam but I very seldom get any. For some reason the Askimet? blocks it. I look for spam now and then but there just isn’t any and I’m glad. I think that spam is mostly generated by robots. A web designer told me.
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Robots makes sense…sort of. What can they accomplish with that gibberish? You are lucky to get little of that.
Yes we do have rattlers here although I have never seen one. I would guess that is how the second location got its name.
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Steve, this is great news about the snow melting and spring finally making its entrance. We’ve had weird weather here. Early March showed much promise. The temperatures soared, the swallows arrived and we enjoyed balmy days and nights. Then, suddenly it all changed. Snow flurries, hail, lots of rain and plummeting temperatures. Very different from this time last year where it was much more settled. We had a dry winter, only 5 days of rain and an average snowfall. The natural spring in the village dried up months ago and the olive farmers are worried – they need rain and lots of it for at least another month, otherwise the olive harvest for next year is going to be disastrous. Carlotta on the other hand wants sun and lots of it!!
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It sure is appreciated, Lottie. But I won’t get cocky…we have had more than a few April snows over the years. Additional good news is that we haven’t needed a fire for two nights so far. 🙂
I hope your farmer neighbors get the rain and warmth they need for the olive groves.
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You really do a wonderful job of finding beauty.
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It’s all out there to be seen…I wish I had more time to explore these hidden spots. Thanks, Lyle.
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Indeed, you do. It is really good to see water sheeting down a rock face again, and the line of trees, vertical against diagonal, is very nice as well.
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Thanks, Melissa. It is nice to see the complete waterfall again instead of the little reveals below the ice. As much as I enjoy making those images I prefer the warmer weather and look forward to green edges to the falls and cascades once again.
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Oh, yes. And the soft air of spring.
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