First of the first

In a typical spring I see pussy willows at least a week before the maple blossoms swell. But this year was different, and the first buds/blossoms I saw were these silver maples. You can see they are ready to burst open, and tomorrow I will show you what happened when they did. Bursting buds are not the first signs of spring; Where I live I tend to look for signs of spring in this order: tree circles, darkening willow and red osier dogwood stems, swelling buds, returning canada geese, returning red-winged blackbirds, the sounds of tinkling meltwater…and then the pussy willows and maple blossoms. The order can vary year-to-year, but rarely does. I think of it like a chain of dominos set in motion–one event begetting the next, and so on. Spring happens fast in the North. And after my year of distraction, I am here for it.

silver maple blossoms in March