Spring?

 Well, here it is, folks: our first flower of . . . Spring?  Sadly, I'm finding it hard to feel excited about this portent of spring, this definitely flowering Skunk Cabbage plant that was blooming today along the Spring Run Trail in Saratoga Springs, when we haven't really had much winter this year. 

Little snow fell this year, and the bit that did hardly stayed on the ground before rain came to wash it away.  The lakes never froze solid enough to venture across. I enjoyed no snowshoeing to follow animal trails in the woods; I never wandered among the ice fishermen to marvel over their catches; there was nothing much in the way of glittering crystalline ice formations along the tumbling creeks -- we had very little of the fun stuff that makes winter's coldness not just tolerable but also a big part of the season's pleasure. So yeah, I've given up waiting for winter, now that it seems we are having an early spring.

Forgive my grumpiness. I was sick for a week with that damned Norovirus that would not let me venture far from my bathroom, followed by a second week of lethargy caused by the malnutrition and dehydration that virus caused.  So I've been deprived of my regular nature therapy, or of any outdoor adventures worth blogging about.  I'm finally feeling ready to venture out, and the nearby Spring Run Trail offered easy and pleasant walking. The trail is paved, it's just a mile long, and it passes through forest and swamp and along a rushing stream. And the bridges that cross it are handsome.

I have read that being in the presence of rushing water is good, not just for the soul, but also our physical bodies, thanks to the creation of negative ions in the air.  And I will attest that I lingered long by the Spring Run Creek, enjoying the babbling music and breathing in that altered air.

Sadly, my good mood was quashed quite a bit when, while looking about for traces of spring greenery, these dog poop bags were the only green things I could find. Dog are so great.  Too bad, many owners are not. Why the hell did they bother to bag that poop before hurling it into the bushes?  If they'd just flipped it well off the trail so it wouldn't be trod upon, it would have naturally decomposed, eventually.

I did find some colorful growing things, including this patch of Turkey Tail caps that were rimmed with bright yellow.  The fungus itself could have sprouted on this log last fall, but I wonder if its yellow edges  developed just recently.

I might have thought, too, that the Witch Hazel shrubs along the trail were adorned with new yellow flowers.  Except that I am well aware that those small yellow "posies" are simply the persistent calyces that held last fall's now long-fallen blooms. They are quite pretty, though.

As I neared the end of the mile-long trail, I took the handsome boardwalk that crosses a marsh, intending to return to the trailhead by walking along Excelsior Avenue instead of retracing my path on the Spring Run Trail. I noticed no signs of returning plant life in the marsh, but I certainly heard many cries from the Red-winged Blackbird males, only recently arrived to establish and guard prime nesting sites among the cattails.

Most of the blackbirds appeared as dark specks high in the trees or hidden among the cattails, but this one ventured close enough for my camera's zoom to capture his vivid red shoulders. Welcome back, dear blackbirds. Whatever the weather, your presence is definitely a sure sign of spring.