March madness
This weird winter weather seems all wrong. It’s early March, the month known for its fickle meteorological conditions. At a St. Pat’s parade in Richmond in the late 1980s, spectators were spotted sporting summer attire, and everyone was in awe of the heat. And at another such event in the late 1990s, it was seriously snowing, bitterly cold, and blustery. Over the years, we have had it all. But this long stretch of warm temperatures in late winter seems epic.
Amid the browns and greys in the snowless landscapes of this part of the Eastern Townships, sometimes a bit of white or other colour catches the eye. Fields in some locations are uncharacteristically green rather than their normal drab brown. In the woods, non-tree greens brighten the groundcover of dreary dead leaves and bare grey rocks. On February 25, I was amazed to come across healthy, verdant wild strawberry leaves.
A couple of days later, I saw my first caterpillar of the year, admittedly lethargic in terms of motion. But then, on March 5, I encountered three Woolly Bear banded crawlers within a short distance, each moving at roadway speed, each obviously on its own hard and fast mission.
Back to the subject of hues in nature, viewed from afar, red polka dots on a fallen limb recently lured me over for closer inspection, and proved to be living fungi. A nearby toppled branch was framed by a profusion of white shell-shaped mushrooms. Wild raspberry canes are now a bright burgundy hue, and some have already sprouted new growth.
My most spectacular find lately has been a few intricately but loosely woven, small, strangely snow white, loofah-like somethings, discovered on the bare ground at the edge of a copse along a brook. I later learned they were the skeletons of wild loofah seed pods. Yes, the loofah used for exfoliation comes from a climbing vine in the gourd family, also known as the creeper vine or wild cucumber plant. Surprisingly, these specimens had turned to a milky coffee tint by the time I retrieved them from my jacket pocket not long after I had picked them up. https://www.britannica.com/ plant/loofah and https://www.ontario. ca/document/weed-identificationguide-ontario-crops/wild-cucumber.
Happily, there are tangible signs of the approaching, seasonal change like longer, warmer, and brighter days as well as the hint of sprouts and buds on some vegetation. It may feel like spring verging on summer, but beware! Who knows what’s on the horizon?
“It was one of those March days when the sun shines hot and the wind blows cold: when it is summer in the light, and winter in the shade.” Charles Dickens
“March is a tomboy with tousled hair, a mischievous smile, mud on her shoes, and a laugh in her voice.” - Hal Borland