The following quote has haunted me for the past five years. It is the opening of the excellent book, A Field Guide to Your Own Backyard, by John Hanson Mitchell.
Mitchell’s book is called a ‘field guide,’ but it is more a meditation on noticing your local space than a traditional handbook for identifying plants or animals.
The author goes on to say,
The natural year is in fact divided into a series of mini seasons, each with its own weather patterns, its own hatchings or flowerings or deaths.
The Three Parts of Spring
It seems to me there are at least three parts to spring, which also remind me of the stages of each day dawning:
crusty early spring with stirring sap, when signs of growth are like the first light of dawn
increasing new life of spring before the leaves emerge, like dawn before the sun crests the horizon
the late spring riot of abundant leaves and blooms and animal activity, like the full light of day
Spring is a function of the tilting planet angling towards more light: lengthening day and more direct, stronger sunlight.
A walk just before sunset in late winter, for us, means a 4 pm-ish walk. By late spring we can head out just before 8 pm and enjoy the last light of day. No wonder nature responds with abundant growth as this dramatic tilt occurs. But it happens in increments.
This Spring in the Arnold Arboretum
The idea of ‘three parts to a season’ helps me organize my nature noticings.
This spring I have been working hard on essay writing for publication, and nature journaling has taken a pause. Photography has instead been my friend.
Here are some noticings from the three parts of this spring at the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University, where I try to take a daily walk.
The First Crack of Spring
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Season Two: Middle Spring
Season Three: Full-on Spring
The Arnold Arboretum turned 150 years old this spring!
Finally, the Time of Lilacs
Here Come the Leaves!
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A Field Guide to Your Own Backyard (Second Edition), John Hanson Mitchell, The Countryman Press, Woodstock, Vermont, 1999, 2014. Mitchell is “an internationally recognized naturalist and advocate for tuning your senses to the wonders of your environment.” [Affiliate link; a small percentage of the sale helps fund this site]