Spring has been a long time coming in Minnesota this year. Finally on Mother’s Day the last of the ice landed on our shore and then melted as the day progressed. We have lived here since 1992 and it is the latest ice out I remember.
It’s hard to keep a positive outlook when you don’t like winter to begin with and it stretches out into May. Last evening I went for a walk near our home and it was great to hear the birds singing. As I left the yard two loons flew overhead with their familiar calls. I love sleeping with the windows open and listening to them as I go to sleep.
The frog chorus has begun in the nearby swamp and the pussy willows have come and gone already. One of the hard parts about a late spring is the things that usually last for at least a few days are hurried by a quick warm-up in temperatures. It seemed like the pussy willows lasted only for a day and then they were gone.
Tomorrow morning I will begin my annual search for the wild flowers in bloom. ‘A friend said last evening that she saw cow slips and bloodroot blooming, two of my favorites.
Have a blessed day! I know I will as we will experience our first over 80 degree day today. 🙂
Flying Gma's Blog 
nrhatch
May 14, 2013 at 8:07 am
We’ve been watching the ice inching up the shorelines in Minnesota on the Weather Channel, Jeanne. Amazing sight as it piled up against trees and houses.
flyinggma
May 14, 2013 at 8:12 am
Thankfully we didn’t have the problems some places had but it was an incredible thing to watch. I don’t think of the ice having that much force behind it but when it is backed by the powerful winds we had it is something to be reckoned with. It pushed our dock about eight feet up on the shore.
nrhatch
May 14, 2013 at 8:19 am
When we lived on the Chesapeake Bay, it froze on occasion. If the winds picked up while it was beginning to break up, it caused problems.
One night, we heard an enormous *CRACK* and in the morning, we saw the splintered remains of our neighbors dock ~ broken up by the ice into “toothpicks.”
flyinggma
May 14, 2013 at 8:22 am
Wow…We usually don’t leave any part of our dock in the water before it freezes because there would be too much damage by spring and it would be dangerous for the snowmobilers that ride on and off the lake.
nrhatch
May 14, 2013 at 12:02 pm
Good to have a dock that can be pulled out of the water in the fall.
Glad that your temps are finally warming up. It’s only 77 on our back deck at the moment . . . with a gorgeous breeze and low/no humidity. Just perfect.
pattisj
May 14, 2013 at 3:23 pm
Your ice may have lingered, but it didn’t take long for the 80s to arrive. I didn’t know it came ashore like that. I also hadn’t considered, like the pussy willow, that the blooming time would be altered. It’s good to see a post from you!
flyinggma
May 14, 2013 at 10:31 pm
Thanks Patti. Hoping to find some wild flowers tomorrow. It wouldn’t be spring without them.
Booksphotographsandartwork
May 15, 2013 at 12:02 am
I know we didn’t have it as bad as you guys did but spring was slow coming to SC as well. I think tomorrow will be our first day in the 80’s as well! There have been a lot of highs during the day but then lows during the night. Too low to sit out in the evening. I know its on the way though.