Going "Outside" .. That Would Be Okay

11 April 2012
12:15 PM

Sunrise at	6:28 AM	in direction	67°	East-northeast
Sunset at	9:17 PM	in direction	293°	West-northwest

Duration of day: 14 hours, 49 minutes (6 minutes, 49 seconds longer than yesterday)

My daughter posted a comment on her facebook page from Portland, OR:

Green? What is this color of which you speak???? — at Hotel Lucia

I have been overwhelmed with such a longing for green things growing ever since.  I looked out upon our yard again today to see how "Break Up" was coming along, silently willing it to move fast enough for leaf out by Mother's Day.  Today, I admit, I saw a difference in the snow in the yard.  It had the glistening quality of snow rotting all across the lawn area, even at depths of two feet.  Birch leaves that had fallen here and there on top of the snow from the over the winter were dark enough to be magnets for the sun's warming rays and they had sunk several inches into the snow surface.  Depressions occurred here and there for no explicable reason other than the snow was melting faster in that region.

Across the driveway, abundant bare patches appear, although there is an unusually large puddle of standing water in one section of the circular drive nearest the drop off near to the southeast.  I don't recall ever seeing water accumulate in quite that way there; it seemed to run off somewhere before this season.  The driveway was graded upon fill dirt, probably removed from where the basement was built into side of the hill along with fill brought in from elsewhere.  There are mounds of snow between it and where it drops off into birch, spruce, and the horsetail (Equisetum) understory.   Well, it will be horsetail - later.

The snow has finished melting off the section of roof just outside the atrium door that we use exclusively in winter to exit onto the deck, but lingers toward the back of the house.  Still it is nice to look out on a deck that had melting snow dripping over the gutters early this morning and see it completely dry now.  The temperature reached 50F on our deck, the first time this spring.  The dogs have spent more time outside then in.

Buds continue to gradually thicken in the birch trees and more of the willows are fuzzy on random stems.  The sun is definitely and clearly rising well to the north east setting well to the north west.  Spring is here in terms of temperature and sun position.  But there is nothing green growing.  Do you know that the human eye can detect more shades of green than other mammals?  I crave it, long for it, and would not mind a trip to the Outside to actually see greenery, smell it, and smell the richness of earth not bound by snow and frost.

Ah me.