Quick Change

 I forgot I had things to post last night, which is just as well, because it will make for a more interesting post today, as I ignore my own rules for writing this blog (why did I even make rules? The only person they apply to is me, and everyone who knows me knows quite well that I am not a person who is keen on following rules) and post yesterday's pictures with today's for contrast.

Here in New England, the seasons blend together at the edges like different colors of paint on a canvas come together to make a new shade when you glide over them with your paintbrush.

Okay, that was a terrible analogy, but I am writing this with a painting that I finished this week in my peripheral vision. 

Here's what I saw on a muddy island in the stream yesterday:

The first sign of a spring ephemeral!

I think this is skunk cabbage, one of the first things to bloom in the spring. Now, I am not by any means going to say that spring is here, or just around the corner. I am not even to the point yet when I am desperately longing for it, but that might be due to my increased appreciation for winter that has developed over the last few years, particularly this winter as I have had the opportunity to walk in the woods every day. But it is definitely thrilling to have my first sight of springtime growing in the mud. Spring is, after all, my favorite season.

Now, here's the same spot today:

Because it's not spring yet, not even close. I won't even say it's hard to believe that two days ago the temperature was in the 50s, because it's not hard to believe at all. But it may be a while before I catch another glimpse of springtime like that.

As for insects, I have some bad pictures for you:

Yesterday afternoon I saw a water beetle in the stream. A rare daytime sighting. I saw a few crane flies and stoneflies, but not many bugs overall. The air temperature was right around the freezing point, but in the flowing water of the stream there wasn't much ice. I saw a few caddisfly larval cases, too.

Today I saw one insect:

Sorry, I didn't realize it was so blurry when I took this picture of a stonefly crawling on the snow, while it was snowing, with the temperature several degrees below freezing.