Spring is springing... maybe

Well we has a blip of warmth yesterday - in the fifties! It isn't really spring yet - that will only happen when the list below is complete, but it felt good.

I grabbed my camera and headed out looking for spring. I went over to Black Earth Creek. This is a trout stream near our home and it doesn't usually freeze, so if anywhere there is life it is there. Well life was there - in the form of a bazillion fishermen! I think everyone with waders was waiting for today!

The creek also has a small pond and the ice retreating from the pond was really interesting. To the right is a circular melt in the middle of the pond - kinda of a "black hole" don't you think!

It was fun to tramp around in the soggy (but only for an inch or so) ground, see so many out enjoying the "warmth" and finally see a few slices of evidence that even during the winter life continues under the snow. Enjoy a few more pictures of the area below:

And here are a couple of details that I also found: The prickly seed pods that will soon be replaced by green, and the moss and alpine plants that are the first to emerge from the ice and snow.

So when we :
- Have a few less feet of ice on the pond
- See a foot of snow soak back into the ground
- Experience a little more consistency in the temperature
- Complete the removal of 6 months of trash from the street gutters
- Record the first robin sighting
- Feel safe about removing the ice scraper from the car
- Starting to wear boots for fashion not just function again
- Use ice more on food than onsidewalks
- And start complaining about how warm it is....

Then we will know spring is in Wisconsin.

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