When snow covers the ground, trash and dirt can get covered up and mixed into it. Then, along comes another layer of white and all looks clean and neat. But then, the snow all melts and plenty of mess, junk, road sand (for traction) and other oddities are revealed. This was a harsher winter than lately and there were plenty of chances for trash and junk to accumulate.
As the snow melts, while people are thinking about changing into lighter weight jackets, or Heavens! No jacket! No gloves! While that is happening, much stronger and more organized forces are at work. You usually have to purposely examine the ground closely to see little green shoots here and there. The ground plants are faster to start up than are our trees. The outside temperature is 51° right now but the only green on trees are the needles on the evergreens.
The oaks and maples are just as starkly bare as ever. They will not be fooled into premature leafing. We usually use the trio of robins, daffodils and green leaves as signs of actually being in the midst of spring. Today ends the first third of spring but still no sign of leaves on the deciduous trees. By another month, we will have some leaves but maybe not the complete set even then.
Raking the entire lawn and grounds is a spring ritual. Doing that gives us a chance to collect beer cans loaned to us by passing cars. I have a tendency to blame teens for them but it just might be grumpy senior citizens or roving packs of single moms. We have sometimes paid a crew of five to seven men to cut the stalks of last year's wild prairie plants, dethatch and rake the lawns and remove all the cuttings and stalks. This year, two energetic high school students did an excellent job with several machines and good skills.
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Bill
Main blog: Fear, Fun and Filoz
Main web site: Kirbyvariety
