Spring Sunshine

 We have had perfect weather the last two days with sunshine and temperatures in the low-70s F. A very welcome change from the cold rain we have been having. 

Yesterday, to take advantage of this glorious day, Ward and I visited some old and new-to-us trails. We were looking for mostly paved trails, hoping to find less mud there. We succeeded. 

The first walk was a new trail that took us beside woods and long-abandoned houses. While it wasn't pristine nature, it was still interesting to imagine the lives that were lived there before nature began reclaiming it.

This roof was all the way on the ground.
We tried to determine the sequence of events that led to this.

Next, we went to a trail we hadn't been on for a while. It is in a stream valley, and much of it is on a boardwalk, so it was a good candidate for a muddy day.

On the hill next to the trail, we found an old family cemetery. 

The house with the cemetery was no longer there,
 but daffodils and crocuses were marking where it had been.

One of the first things I noticed on the trail was that skunk cabbage was starting to come up.

One of the first things Ward noticed was how this bridge was built. And that's the way it usually goes. I notice plants, and he notices structures. When we are together, we both are shown things we wouldn't normally pay attention to. It works out nicely.

We didn't see much green, but we did see interesting fungi.

But the real stars of the day were the wood frogs, who were croaking loudly in every bit of standing water we came across. I spent too long trying to embed the video with the sound without success, so you'll have to Google it* if you want to hear what they sounded like. But they were singing their hearts out, looking for a mate. 
*https://www.youtube.com/shorts/CbQrorDMPTc?feature=share

That's about it for today, so

Until next time...