I think Spring is really here. It's somewhat hard to tell. The snow no longer is sticking and flowers are coming up. Scilla's out and Daffodils are starting to bloom in the neighborhood.
We made our annual spring visit to Bailey Homestead in Indiana today. The paths were damp but good--signs of the torrential rains abounded but walking was okay and the water was back down in many places (it drains off fast in sand).
It's hard to take photos of the tiny little flowers that come up early. Each year they're all there, but the quantity and location of each changes. We were early for the season, today, but the first flowers, Spring Beauties, were not in their usual abundance. Instead, we found many more than usual Trilliums coming up (below).
May Apples were already out (below)--but Trout Lilies were just starting to flower. Many new trees were down, opening up the forest area but also providing loads of sheltered and rich areas for the early spring flowers to thrive in.
Our walks at Bailey are more than just getting out into the woods. We really work to slow down, focus and see. Once our eyes became attuned, we saw that the Trout Lilies were starting to bloom and that there were indeed Spring Beauties, Toothwort, Bloodwort, and tiny little insects pollinating them (including one very tiny delightful bright blue butterfly or moth). We spotted two of Mrs. Bailey's remaining Hyacinths blooming. They are pretty tiny now. We saw deer prints in the mud and heard and saw a variety of birds. We find this conscious slowing down to really look and to really listen makes us feel good and can stay with us for several days.
