Winter!

After dealing with a foot sprain for the better part of a month, I was finally able to get back outside this weekend. This is the kind of thing that entices me!

And this is the beautiful play of shadows on the snow that met me as I went a little way down the trail:

 This was at Schramm State Park. The lovely blue shadows remind me of Pissaro's snow paintings. He is still my favorite artist.





And this reminded me that spring will come soon.

Tree time: the Ginkgo

Yesterday, we went to the Nebraska State Museum in Lincoln. The geology and paleontology exhibits were wonderful, and well worth the trip. Down the walk from the Morrill building was a familiar, beautiful tree: a ginkgo!

I love the fan-shaped leaves. And it was a female tree. You don't often see the female trees, because some people object to the strong smell of the seeds after they drop. In fact, my old forestry textbook (Textbook of Dendrology, by Harlow, Harrar, and White) refers to the fleshy seed coating as being "exceedingly malodorous." It then describes the smell as being like rancid butter, and recommends only planting male trees.  But I love the big clusters of seeds that look a little like the wild plums I saw at Fontenelle last week, and I guess I inherited my grandfather's sense of smell. It's legendary in our family that Limburger cheese didn't bother him, and the ripe, fallen seeds of this tree do not bother me.

Many trees had signs to identify them, so I guess this was part of an on-campus arboretum.

All in all, it was a wonderful day.

Ft. Atkinson, Arbor Lodge, and Catalpa

Having guests in town sometimes nudges me to find something new and interesting to do. This week, we traveled on Hwy. 75 to see Ft. Atkinson and then Arbor Lodge.

Ft. Atkinson was interesting. It was a beautiful day, but we lacked hiking shoes and tick spray, so we stuck to the paved walkway. I would like to go back, and take the 1.2 mile nature trail. As it was, we saw some very interesting displays of medical tools and punishment methods for prisoners.

The next day, we headed in the other direction on Hwy. 75, and visited Arbor Lodge. The home of the founder of Arbor Day was not a disappointment. The woodwork in the older part of the house was stunning, and featured intricate carving. I think my favorite room was the library. I love books, and there were many beautiful old books in glass library cases.

I was surprised to see Catalpa trees. I had forgotten that this is not just a southern genera. The flowers are really beautiful.

My guests seemed to enjoy our trips to both of these parks, too. Nebraska has so much to offer. I feel as though we have barely scratched the surface, and when my guests return (hopefully!), we will have even more interesting places to visit.

Storm season

Years ago, when we lived in Tennessee, we were on the edge of tornado territory. I went through a class to become a National Weather Service volunteer storm spotter. My spotting skills were not useful in the next couple of states we lived in, so I've let the training slide.

I'm thinking of taking another class here. I still have my programmable weather radio, and it was going off a lot last night. But in between cloudbursts, we saw this through the window:

I love rainbows. They are always a surprise when you see one, and they have such an ephemeral beauty. The colors are vivid, but not glaring- more like a diluted pure watercolor, which, of course, makes sense.

After last night's storm, the street and our deck are covered in maple seeds. These always find their way into my sketchbooks. When I was a kid, we used to toss red maple seeds high into the air, and watch them spiral down, spinning like helicopter blades. These are silver maple seeds, and they are larger than the red maple ones.

I love the texture and the muted colors in this photo. I think I have always been in love with the camera's macro lens, too.

The rest of the week's forecast looks rainy. It is also finally getting warm enough to switch over to short sleeves. The first wave of spring flowers- the Japanese magnolias, cherry blossoms, and forsythia, are finishing. Lilacs are still flowering. Wildflower season should be upon us soon, and I cannot wait.