The spring migration has commenced

I see the moon and the moon sees me
Down through the leaves of the old oak tree
Please let the light that shines on me
Shine on the one I love

~ Nursery rhyme

There are variations on this rhyme and even several song versions.  I like this one best.

Last night’s moonrise caught me making dinner.  That seems to happen a lot lately.  I grabbed the camera, rushed outside, and took a few photos.  Hand held is really not the way to go for moon shots, but things were happening in the kitchen that couldn’t wait while I set up the tripod, moved around the yard, and carried on a photo shoot with the moon.  Dinner would have been overcooked (or on fire) by the time I returned from such an outing.

The March full moon (which is tomorrow) has many traditional names including Fish Moon, Sleepy Moon, Chaste Moon, and Moon of Winds.  One of my favorites is Moon When Eyes Are Sore From Bright Snow.  Most years, we’ve had so much snow by now that Moon When Eyes Are Sore From Bright Snow is a good name for it.  Moon of Winds is more appropriate for us here in the Bogs this year.  It is indeed windy.

I woke up this morning to find that the spring migration has begun.  The pink flamingos are back.

For those of you fairly new to my blog, the pink flamingos show up sometime in the early spring, around the same time the Canada Geese try to claim the pond for their own.  The geese do not like the pink flamingos at first.  Then they grow used to them and decide to join them on the banks of the pond.  That’s when our rest is over and we have to once again remind the geese that they are not welcome here until they learn to clean up after themselves.  We used to leave the flamingos out during the winter months, but this turned out to be unkind to their coloring (they would fade), and their legs (they would break).

In case it’s not obvious (I think it is, but I know what I’m looking at), the flamingos are plastic with metal legs.  I have a history with pink flamingos which you can start to read about here, if you’re interested in part or all of the story.

Honeybee visiting the crocuses

The honeybees are out and about today.  The wind must be hard on them.  This poor guy was having trouble flying from flower to flower.  Just as he’d lift off, a gust of wind would come along and try to blow him away from the flowers.  The winds are currently gusting (frequently) at about 20mph.

I spent about two hours in the garden this afternoon, cleaning up the asparagus bed.  I’m getting a little frustrated with it, and considering digging up the last row of asparagus, tilling it, and starting over.  I didn’t get to the last row for a final weeding last fall and now it’s a mess.  There were moments while I was out there trying to sort the asparagus from the weeds that I was convinced starting over would be easier even if it does mean waiting a few years to harvest.

Pussy willow soaking up some sun on this warm March day.

I saw a wooly bear (which grows up to be an Isabella Tiger Moth) while I was carting the old asparagus ferns from the garden to the meadow.  It seems like a strange time to see a wooly bear.  I normally associate them with the autumn months.  It turns out that it’s not unusual to see wooly bears in the spring.

Wooly bear.

The wooly bear overwinters in its caterpillar form.  Here’s the fascinating part:  It freezes solid (provided it gets cold enough, of course).  Its heart stops beating, then its gut freezes, followed by the freezing of its blood and the rest of its body.  The wooly bear thaws in the spring and emerges to pupate.  Once it completes its metamorphosis into a moth, it has only days to find a mate before it dies.

Today's view of the pond

Now that we have learned a little about the wooly bear, it is time for me to go.  Thank you for visiting me here in the Bogs today.  It’s been a good day to be outside, enjoying the sunshine, the blue sky, and yes, even the wind.  I think the sunset is going to be pretty this evening.  Let’s meet on the deck in a little while to watch it.  I’m making a curry for dinner.  Something very spicy with cauliflower and potatoes.

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