The Words of Late Winter.
“Late winter is when we learn to spot the subtle patterns in apparent chaos. Nothing is random. Every cloud, stream and snowflake has meaning.” - The Hidden Seasons
The landscape starts to look different too. Temperatures warm and melt snow but the sun lacks the power to evaporate it. Light from the sun reflects off the water and ice on the ground and bounces back up onto the undersides of low clouds in the sky creating an iridescent effect in the sky. Go out side on a bright day with low clouds and look off in the direction of the lightest sky. As the late winter yearns towards early spring, the landscape starts to hold a light mirror-y effect.
As the spring progresses the far off skies begin to darken signaling the lakes and deep bodies of have opened. Where melting ice and thin layers of melting water once reflected light back to the clouds, the deep open water reduces this effect, making the clouds appear dark and create “water sky.” Looking almost as if they were to hold a heavy rain.
The seasons may not be shifting in a fast and furious fashion, but little shifts are happening, even though they teeter back and forth the momentum is starting.
Listen for increased crow calls as their mating season starts, and watch for eagles near nest as the first eggs are laid in February. Skunks, raccoons, and other fur bearers passing through on the hunt for new territory.
