One of the first prairie flowers to bloom in the spring are the pasque flowers. They thrive in gravel prairies and are found in various areas throughout Minnesota. Yesterday I ventured south of the Twin Cities to a Minnesota Scientific and Natural Area. When I first arrived, the morning was cool and overcast, but I was thrilled to have found a wonderful slope dotted with these small pasque flowers. Standing only 4 to 5 inches tall, they are easily overlooked from a distance. As I walked along I found more and more of these little gems pushing their blooms up from under the brown grasses. I spent over an hour photographing, all the while accompanied by the sounds of Canada geese and mourning doves. As I stopped to take in the beauty of the landscape around me the skies slowly cleared and I was treated to a warm sun and beautiful pasque flowers against a blue sky — a delightful and wonderful welcome to spring.
Photography
Spring green
Within a one-week span, spring has arrived and broken through the late-winter doldrums. Warmer temps and an afternoon of rain followed by clear sunshine has brought a burst of green all around. The lawns have quickly changed from brown to green, blooming daffodils have been spotted in the neighborhood, accompanied by colorful crocus, and leaves are starting to be visible against the blue skies. Our lilac bush has opened its lovely light green leaves to the warmth of spring. Everything seems to be about two weeks ahead of schedule, yet no one is complaining. Even the smell of green and spring is noticeable and welcome in the air this first week of April.
Uncovered surprises
With rain and warmer temperatures, most of our snow cover has melted. What surprised me was what has now been uncovered. Not only have I spotted tulips courageously pushing their tips above the ground, but I also found a beautiful dried hydrangea bloom. Somehow it survived the winter without being crushed by the weight of snow. I woke one morning to see it being blown by the wind across the front lawn. So strong, and yet so delicate, its blossoms are sheer with amazing intricacies. When backlit the bloom shines with the warmth and strength of the sun, and reminds me of other surprises to come in the change from winter to spring.
Sounds of transition
As a photographer, I consider myself a visual person. My eyes are constantly moving across whatever scene is in front of me, scanning for details, for patterns, for the beauty of the scene. Yet this week I’ve been attuned to the sounds in the air as we transition from winter to spring. With temperatures above freezing throughout the whole week, we’ve been serenaded with the sweet sound of running water. The gutters and drainspouts are gurgling once again — a sound we haven’t heard since early December. The street curbs are filled with water running from the snowmelt down to the storm drains. Every house and building overhang is dripping as the snow is melted by a warmer and brighter sun. As I was walking in the neighborhood this afternoon my ears caught the sound of a group of young boys playing catch and the distant radio broadcast of a spring training baseball game. I think spring is the one season that’s announced by a cacophony of sounds, all that are welcome with the promise of warmer weather, green grass, blue skies and warm sunshine. Yes, we still have mounds of snow and the sidewalks are becoming small canals as the water melts with nowhere to run, but we have hope in this annual ritual.
Hats of winter
This is now my fourth winter in Minnesota. When I moved here, I owned one hat – a baseball hat used to keep the rain off my face in Washington. I didn’t really like hats. But I quickly learned there is a whole culture of hats
in Minnesota! People love their hats, and there are so many different styles of hats to love. There are lightweight hats for early winter, there are hats that are meant to keep the top of your head warm, there are hats to tie under your chin to keep your cheeks and neck warm, and there are hats or hoods that are connected to your coat. And then as winter progresses and the temps get colder and colder, there are hats that keep every part of your head, ears, and upper body warm — these are the ones with flaps that come down and around, and are your very best friend on a sub-zero day. These are just some of my current hat collection (ok, one of them is borrowed but it’s so cool I just had to model it too!). The other cool thing about Minnesotans is they don’t care if you have hat-hair or not. Hat-hair is what everyone has, it’s a fact of life, and it’s just the way things are when the temps are hovering around zero. Practicality wins out over the fashionistas when survival is at stake. Winter hats are just one of the things I like about Minnesota.
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