
All of a sudden, it’s spring in Disappointment Valley. How do we know?
The greasewood (above) is budding. We always look forward to this (at least partly) because it provides an early source of protein for the horses coming out of winter.
Grass is rising (sparse, but it’s there).
Cottonwood, silver poplar and apricot (!) leaves (in my neck of the not-so-wooded woods) are budding.
Robins are hopping.
Meadowlarks (how I love them!) are trilling my favorite song(s).
Butterflies are fluttering by.
Disappointment and Dawson creeks are running high and fast (Spring Creek *is* actually trickling), and places that AREN’T even creeks are channeling higher country snowmelt into arroyos rushing muddily to Disappointment Creek.
Mustangs are shedding.
Humans are wearing – *gasp* – short sleeves and baring winter-white skin to sunshine – which means it’s sunscreen season again.
I can ride my bike outside (instead of inside on the stationary trainer), and as a result, I think I have the first slight sunburn of the season.
High temps have gone from 40s to 50s to 60s to 70s (near 80!) in about as many days. (And by Friday, we’ll have a 30-ish-degree temperature drop.)

I initially thought this was phlox, but I think I’ve identified it more correctly as filaree or storksbill/cranesbill. (Remember the post about April’s full “pink” moon? Filaree is part of the geranium family, not phlox, but it IS very pink!)

What signs of spring are YOU seeing where you live?








