Color

I was inspired by Justina’s blog post today at Morning Bray Farm.  She’s tired of a long, colorless winter, so she brought out some beautiful pictures of flowers from back in the sunny months.

This got me to thinking about all the folks out there who are actually having a winter.  I know some parts of the midwest and northeast have had big piles of snow dumped on them.  But we here in the Piedmont of North Carolina are still waiting for winter to start!  We’ve had a few strings of nights in the 20s and days barely above freezing, but that ain’t nuthin’ compared to what winter is supposed to be.  Amiright?

So as spring comes barging in early, I thought it would only be gracious of me to share a little of the color we have right now.

While some of the grass has gone dormant, there’s been plenty of green for most of the winter.

I started my search for color in my own backyard.  The bulbs have been slowly readying themselves for weeks now, and began to bloom sometime last week.

The Carolina jasmine which looked to be dying last summer is making a comeback.

Oh, and let’s not forget these little fellows…they still count as flowers!

(Did you know that dandelions were brought to North America by the British as a food crop?  We should be eating our lawns, not spraying them!)

I decided to take my camera with me on my evening walk/sniff with Rosie, to see what other colors I might come across.  Here’s a gratuitous Rosie shot, because how can I not?

Off to the park…I love this variegated whatchamacallit bush.  The leaves are edged in yellow, though it doesn’t show up that well in this muted light.

But then as I entered the park, I saw this early-blooming explosion!

I was so overwhelmed, it was hard to keep the camera steady.   I'm not sure what this is; some kind of apple or crabapple.  But it blooms weeks before any of the other flowering cherries do around here.  Oh, and it smells lovely.

Did you want a closer look?  I thought so.

 

Next I noticed the yellow-and-green of the lichen on a tree.

And I knew that some of the hardwoods around the park had burst their buds a couple of weeks ago.  But I hadn’t noticed this yet.

Sorry it’s fuzzy—I blame the lowering light for a longer-than-expected exposure.  But I still think the color is worth sharing.

And, if you look closely enough, you can see a little bit of pink in these clouds.

Then I had to put the camera away and pay attention to Rosie, as we were entering snack goose-poop territory.  Here’s hoping for a little color in your weekends!