It’s been either snowing or raining all day and it feels as if the weather’s been like this for weeks. Today at the park I took note that the small creek that feeds the duck pond is running quite high, so perhaps it’s not just my imagination that the weather has been wet. My German grandmother had a word for cold, wet, nasty weather like this. It was oozelish. I know that isn’t the right way to spell it, but I never learned to speak German and that’s the closest I can come phonetically. If anyone can help me with this word I’d be grateful because today it’s the best word I can think of to describe the day. Oozelish.

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Right now it’s a balmy 4° here, so things have gotten a bit warmer. The sky remains overcast, though, and rain is expected for the next 3 days. While it was still dry, Jack and I decided to go to the forest. We were hoping to find some sign of new life, but nothing is in bud yet. Nothing. So instead of a pretty picture of flowers or leaf buds, today you get to see Jack. He was the only ray of sunshine I could find.

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Jack and I visited the park this morning and this Canada goose followed us around for a bit. I think he was looking for a handout, but visitors are not allowed to feed the birds. They have a keeper who comes every morning to feed them a proper avian diet. We kept a respectful distance anyway because these birds are big and often aggressive, especially during nesting season which should start soon.

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I’m still in Toronto without Jack and although I miss him, I’m secretly smiling that I don’t have to take him out for a walk. The weather around here just keeps going from bad to worse. Yesterday we had snow and today we’re having a blizzard. The forecast for next week is no better with continued temperatures below zero and more snow to come. Again, ugh!

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I think someone forgot to give Mother Nature the memo that it’s springtime. Yesterday we had a blizzard and today it continues to snow off and on. The temperature is hovering around -5 and everywhere I go people are grumbling. Jack and I decided to go to the park this morning and even the ducks and geese seemed out of sorts. Over at the frog pond the water is still frozen and there isn’t a single thing even close to blooming. What few bulbs that had poked their heads up have come no further. I don’t blame them. If not for Jack, I wouldn’t be outside today either.

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It’s snowing here today with high winds (gusts up to 90 km/hr) and I just can’t bear to take one more wintry photo this spring. Instead, I give you this beautiful old willow tree that caught my eye the day Jack and I went to the lake. It looked so sculptural silhouetted against the blue, blue sky. I’m actually very fond of the look of bare trees in the winter. You can see how unique each one is and that they all have their own personality. Normally, I don’t find them depressing at all. Today, though, I would give a lot to see a tree fully dressed. Heck, today just a few leaf buds would thrill me.

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Over the weekend Charly wrote an interesting post about different types of fungal infections in trees. Today, Jack and I came upon this downed tree and if I remember his post correctly this is a sapwood infection with unaffected heartwood. The damage is quite extreme and I think the infection is parasitic rather than fungal. So much of the wood has been eaten away that I suspect some sort of critter made a banquet of this tree.

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We went to the lake today to look at the lingering ice and there was none! This was cause for celebration and Jack chose to do his happy dance in the cold, cold water. Don’t worry, though, he’s fine. Jack’s coat is so dense that only his guard hairs get wet. His undercoat and skin stay completely dry. Labs are thoroughly built to be swimmers. They even have webbed feet.

 

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This handsome team was giving free wagon rides today at our local sugar bush.

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