Tuesday, March 6, 2012

Spring is coming fast now

Yesterday it rained all day long, from the time I walked out to catch the bus (still loving my eVent raincoat from REI) until late in the afternoon. I saw these pretty little guys peeking up from the small garden behind the YMCA, and in the process of snapping this picture my camera was getting splattered, so I stopped after taking this one.

As I sat in front of my computer in the afternoon, alternately cursing and praising Pixelmator, I saw a few sun breaks. (BTW, the new header is my latest Pixelmator creation.) The weather said it would clear up on today, Tuesday. So you can imagine my surprise when I woke to... snow!
From my front porch, I saw the rays of the sun as it came up over the horizon, and indeed the sky had cleared. But during the night we received a couple of inches of snow, as well as temperatures below freezing. Even now (1:00pm), after the sun has been shining all day, it is still barely 40 degrees F. Where the sun hasn't reached the sidewalks and streets, it's still slippery and rather treacherous.
I was the first person to navigate the stairs this morning. You can see the first rays of the sun hitting the middle of the stairs, but they were pretty slick when I needed to go down them, so I held on tight to the railing. In the previous picture, notice where the cars are parked. After I got to the bottom of the stairs, I saw some interesting tracks in the snow.
Those are raccoon tracks in between the cars and the shrubs, aren't they? Since they look like little hands, and all of them heading in one direction, I figured it might be mom and her family out looking for an early morning snack. However, I think raccoons are nocturnal, so perhaps these were made at night. Anybody know much about their habits? I've seen skunks and deer emerge from the blackberry brambles, but I am now convinced that raccoons live in there, too. I've never seen any.

Spring! It's coming fast now. Sunday is the beginning of 2012 Daylight Saving Time. This means I'll lose an hour of sleep Sunday night, heading to the bus at what was 6:30am the day before, but on Monday morning will be 7:30am. Spring ahead, fall back: that's how I remember it. In the fall I get to sleep an extra hour, and this coming Sunday night it will be taken back. Sort of.

The sun will set after 7:00pm on Sunday, though, which makes me feel pretty good. Those lovely purple flowers will be coming into bloom soon, and I'll try to get a picture of them. Many of my blogging buddies have been posting pictures of their flowers, and soon the Pacific Northwest springtime bounty will grace my blog, too.
:-)

26 comments:

  1. love the fresh snow. and yes, i'd definitely say those were raccoons! cute!

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  2. Love those raccoon tracks. I would have taken one look at those stairs and headed back to bed.

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  3. we got about an inch on monday...just enough to delay school...cool on the coon tracks....we get them every once in a while...or opposum....spring is coming!

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  4. Oh, those buds are so full of promise! Spring is a way off for us, but we've had so little snow that more is welcome. I love the little raccoon prints!

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  5. Snow!! Looks familiar to me now--LOL! ;)

    Looks like raccoon tracks to me. They are basically nocturnal. Could have been there right as the sun rose, though. How cute!

    Flowers blooming and snow! Wow! Daylight savings time again already. Such a silly thing, IMHO. Be careful on those stairs. I would hope they'd be all clear of snow by now. *hugs* :)

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  6. From the land of snow and ice, it will be a while before I see my tulips peeking out. Everything here has at least 3-4 inches of frozen ice/snow/rain/ice all over the front and back yard with a very few bare patches. Today the sun was setting way over the top of our janormous cedar tree, so we know spring is almost here. Aah, longer days and shorter darkness. Isn't that what we all crave DJan.
    Really nice budding flower photo and yep, by gosh, the raccoons are about. Nice photo of the tracks too. Glad you held on going down those stairs - oh yeah, we have skunks about - they go by the house almost every night approx 9:30pm - Jack smells em before we do. ha,ha
    Have a great day! I really enjoy your blog :)

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  7. Oh. Wow. I love your new header and the glimpses of Spring. I also love the snow and the tracks. Those stairs looked truly treacherous. Glad you made it safely.

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  8. The crocus (croci?) look the same in my yard - tightly furled flowery promise. We got the same skiff of snow, being neighbours and all, eh?
    Racoons? We have a family who visits us too. They are nocturnal - they come out at night and make our security light turn on. We used to have a cat post outside on the deck...they loved to play on it!

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  9. Gorgeous photos! Even the fresh snow somehow fits.0

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  10. Can't believe it's time to change to daylight savings time!
    Our snow storm sneaked up on me when I wasn't following the weather forecast.

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  11. Love your header, DJan. How creative you are! I haven't the heart to change mine. It will remain the same til I die, I suppose.

    Hawaiian time will be the same. It does not change as the rest of the USA does.

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  12. We had a bit of snow this morning too, and it was cold when I went out for my walk at 11:30. this afternoon we worked outside a while. I even did some planting!
    I had not realized DST starts this weekend! thanks for the heads up.

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  13. You may be thinking spring, but Bear is stuck in winter. We have just survived an all-night-and-day snow storm. It was so bad that I couldn't see the river at times, and the river is only 100 yards from our building. Six inches of snow, I guess.

    No signs of raccoons here. I expect they'll be along in due course.

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  14. Raccoons are nocturnal..the males will sometimes bunch up during the mating season..it would be early for a mama with little ones to be out..wouldn't it? It would be here.
    Your snow is prettier than ours! :)

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  15. We are lucky to have had a mild winter but we are still eager for springtime. I like the bright, sunny days. We should see some greenery in a few weeks. The racoon prints are cute but I wouldn't like to encounter one.

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  16. Are those crocuses? They will be so pretty in full bloom.

    I don't know anything about raccoons...we don't get them here but I have heard they can be pretty nasty when confronted. Guess they are only scared and try to defend themselves. They look real cute tho.

    Definitely wise to be careful on those stairs.

    Well done on your Banner pic...it looks great!

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  17. I like your new banner! Don't you just want to cheer spring on? Come on, you can do it!

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  18. I think you have found a new calling. Wonderful picture of the snowy steps. PK

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  19. I love your new header - beauty and joy!

    My first thought was someone was walking on their hands in the snow. I didn't know what raccoon tracks looked like.

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  20. Oh wow, I hadn't heard about the snow over your way. We had some on the mountains when our last rain came through but not down here. We should be seeing crocus soon but not yet.

    Those are definitely raccoon tracks. They are normally nocturnal but I have seen them very early in the morning. Daytime sitings are not that unusual especially when things are very quiet. There are several that walk through our backyard once in awhile

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  21. Y'know, now that I'm retired, this year for some reason above all the years before ---I'm tempted to not even adjust the clocks. Heck, I have absolutely no schedule and nothing to keep me on any time zone; period. I hate the fact that going from daylight savings to regular time twice a year and how it messes with my sleep and my whole body functions.

    LOL

    Anyway, those snowy images are super. And the flower buds...oh, and your new header is marvelous. Those raccoon tracks in the snow are so very fun and whimsical. No other footprints like 'em. So easily identified.

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  22. Dear DJan,
    I so look forward to the Northwest bounty of flowers!
    And I like your new blog header photographs!

    Sorry to have been out of touch. I'm working on another editing project and it's taken lots of time.

    Peace.

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  23. Yep, that good old Ricky Raccoon has paied ya a visit.

    It's sleetin' like nobodies business outside right now...my springs on hold.

    God bless ya and have an incredible day sweetie!!! :o)

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  24. Those raccoon tracks look cute but those creatures are trouble if they make your home theirs! Had it happen at our farm:(
    Your flower pictures made me smile. thanks for that.

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  25. That is such a sweet photo of the crocus peeking through into spring. It always cheered me to see those beautiful buds.

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  26. Daylight savings already??? And here I thought al of the "western hemisphere" changed the clocks at the same time! In Europe we don't switch them until the last Saturday in march, so next weekend.

    Love that shot of the paw prints! :o)

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