Winter vs. Spring: Round 2

After a few springlike days, winter came roaring back, taking Round 2. The system dropped freezing rain, several inches of sleet and topped it all off with snow. Schools were shut down for days and traffic stopped on I-40 and I-55 in northeastern Arkansas.

The heavy winter layer took all the joy out of the daffodils in back of the office.  So sad.

LOST HIS CROWN — Daffodil loses its rill in the sleet, rain and snow.

DOWN — A storm system that brought freezing rain, a few inches of sleet and snow stomped these daffodils.

Winter vs Spring: Round 1

Winter vs. Spring. The fight is on! Round 1 goes to Spring. Images taken Feb. 27 in Little Rock.

SPRUNG — Patches of daffodils in the woods behind the office are showing signs that spring isn’t going to be bullied by Ol’ Man Winter.
BRIGHT – Bloom on a tulip tree backlit by winter sun.

BEWITCHED — Witchhazel blooms in the office garden.

SPRUNG II — Cluster of daffodils!

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A bloomin’ good time

One of the three dozen varieties of daffodils on Wye Mountain.

Tulip tree — a cheery herald of spring.

Tulip tree shot in a retina-frying into the sun style. The pinkish overblown light has a charming retro Instamatic with a light leak quality to it.

Maples are among the first trees to be in bloom in the late winter here in central Arkansas.

24 little hours …

Arkansas has enjoyed unseasonably warm temperatures for late January and the first day of February. Highs today were in the 70s. Even the rock knockers were out this evening, singing their songs in the sunset.

Growing up in the northeast, where the first blooms were snow drops, eagerly awaited in February or March, it’s hard to get used to blooms in January and February. Here in central Arkansas, daffodils begin blooming in January and continue well into March.

The first day of February was a bright one for these blooms near the library at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock.

The two faces of Janus

Janus, the two-faced Roman god for whom January is named, showed both sides today in places less than 20 miles apart.

A fresh layer of snow falls in Ferndale -- just 48 hours after the remains of the last snow fall had disappeared. (cellphone photo)

And, near midtown Little Rock, spring is rising to the surface …

 

Daffodils pierce the surface in a bed outside the Ottenheimer Library at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, while snow blankets other parts of the state. (cellphone photo)