Headed in today intending to take the long route in. Partway there, the rain convinced me to cut my ride a bit short. I knew it was raining because it was on my glasses and hitting my face. The back of my jersey was wetter than the front when I got inside, so I knew it didn't rain much. If it'd been raining seriously, the rain would have overwhelmed the drying of me riding, and the sweat on my back would have been swamped by the rain on my front.
I didn't mention that the other day, taking the long way home, I spooked a red tail hawk enjoying what looked like a chicken dinner. It's a remote part of the county, though, and I don't think there are any chickens in the area, so it was probably something like a ruffed grouse. I wasn't going to eat it, and the red tail did the work for her supper, so I didn't investigate more closely.
Another week into spring, and another variety of magnolia is blooming. I'll use my own systematic names, so it's
magnoliensis purplii.
(From yesterday, when it was sunny!)
I was a bit relieved to see a number of redbuds blooming, in the neighborhoods and near the swamp. Usually it's the first tree to blossom around here, but the magnolias as well as the Bradford pears (sterile ornamentals my Sturmey-Archer!) and some of the ornamental cherries beat the redbuds this year. I guess the hard freeze we got last month along with the ice, after a warmer than normal winter, affected the native trees more than the various other trees that have come into the area. Taking a picture of a blossoming redbud that shows just how striking it is against a barren woods, given the small blossoms, is beyond my photographic skills.