Greetings and welcome!
Here we are on May 10th and the green explosion has not gone off yet. Shocking, amazing, surprising!
There was a horticulturist guy on TV this morning that said that our late greening of the land was because the soil temperature was too cold. He explained that the soil temp needed to be above 40 degrees for stuff to really grow. We had that stretch of 80s for a week that got things started, but then we has snow and 10 days of cold that locked it right down.
When I was out walking the dog yesterday I was surprised that we weren’t farther along. The trees have their very first leaves emerging from the buds, but they are very tiny. Some of the soft hardwoods like cottonwoods are starting to fill in leaves, but they are the leaders of that. The grass is greening up nicely. The dogwoods and cherry trees are now in bloom. Where is the rest of the plant kingdom?
We had a 76 degree day yesterday and most of the week looks like it will hold similar temperatures. That should get things moving. I would expect big changes in the days ahead.
The ATV trails open this weekend. A few people have been around riding the roads, which is legal, but the trails don’t open until Saturday. I would normally expect a crazy busy weekend for opening weekend, but it is Mother’s Day this Sunday. That may cut into it a little. If I were still in the bar business I’d still be ready for a busy weekend.
I took the Mrs for a ride up in the northern county forests last week to see how spring is progressing. I now understand why the ATV trails don’t open until this weekend. Some of those roads were still a little muddy with frost-out mud and a couple were a little dicey in spots. After this week all but the most sheltered spots will have firm ground. We did find a couple of places that were deep enough forest and so sheltered that they still held snow.
There are no upcoming events that I have seen for this weekend other than some Mother’s Day buffets. The Sportsman’s Cafe has one that seems reasonably priced compared to the others.
The nice weather has me working like a mad man on my outdoor stuff. I have a new to me RV that I am trying to whip into shape, the house, cars, and lawn mowers all need love, as does the pontoon boat. One of my goals is to get the small fishing boat into shape and actually go fishing during the bass and panfish spawning seasons. In my 22 years here I have made that once. May is always so busy that I just never get there. As I have said 21 times… this year is GONNA be different… We will see..
The one thing that has changed with the spring is that our wonderful variety of song birds are back. People are reporting seeing the gross beaks, orioles, hummingbirds, and I saw a pair of goldfinches chasing around the other day.
The deer are still common along the roadsides but it isn’t completely nuts like it was for the past few weeks. As the green plants away from the roads grow more they will be less of a problem.
People on Facebook have been posting a lot of black bear pictures. They are out and they are hungry. There are no berries or grubs for them to eat yet, so bird feeders and garbage are their primary food source. Be wise about how you manage those or you will likely have visitors.
I am off to get the day under way. Have a great week and thank you for visiting!
RJB