Melting!

As I write this, the snow is falling again, thick and heavy, in flakes like slices of marshmallows.  Yesterday, though, and the day before, there was a delightful melting phase.  It is only mid-March, so it was quite unusual to have two days that reached nearly 10 degrees Celsius (50 Fahrenheit).  Even overnight, it stayed mild and didn't drop below freezing, but it rained torrentially for hours on end.  While I enjoyed being able to walk Jet without having to wear mittens and a scarf, the warming trend also made a muddy mess of my front yard and driveway.

The driveway had been covered in thick ice, but now it's nearly clear.  Underneath the ice and snow, the soil has not yet warmed, so the melt water didn't permeate the soil much - it stayed on top and created rivers of water everywhere, although the road is now pleasantly clear of ice.

The drainage ditches that follow the sides of the road fill with snow over the winter, particularly as a result of the snowplows pushing all the snow into them.  The great piles that lined the road are now much depleted.

As you can see, the remaining snow was melting quickly, forming deep flowing streams of melt water.

Jet was excited about all the newly revealed smells that had been hiding under the snow.  He sniffed incessantly along the banks.

The normally tranquil and slow stream that goes across my field was a raging flow, being filled by innumerable small streams coming from the melting occurring on the land.

Even under the snow and ice, I could hear the noise of little rivulets of melt water, which made their way to join the stream, where the high flow had formed unusual structures in the remaining snow and ice as the melting continued unabated.

Lest you think that winter is ending, though, let me show you - there is still a lot of snow in some places, and it is still quite deep!

That said, as I walked and sloshed my way through the field, I began to see little signs of spring.  The greening of the world is still a long way off, but there were some encouraging signs.  Here's a picture of some swelling buds on a dogwood - I love their cheery red colour.

I also noticed that the mosses are adopting a much brighter green shade, enjoying their exposure to the sun and starting the cycle of growth and greening that will transform the land once again.

I leave you with a little video so you can hear the rushing sound of the water.  Every time I open the door, I am immediately struck by the loudness of it - I normally don't even hear the stream.  Now, it's a constant noise.  I love the sound of it - somehow calming and rejuvenating.  Today it's snowing, as I mentioned, but the spring will come, day by day.