Picture of the Day for April 29, 2013

With several nice days, most of the snow has melted and it feels good to be able to finally open the windows after a long winter. I think everyone, including the critters, has spring fever and I bet the kids would rather play hookey and play outside in the sunshine than to be stuck in a classroom today.

But I think this old school hasn’t had any children playing hooky in a long time. When I drove past it yesterday, I could picture kids, with their metal lunch pails, eating lunch and playing outside during recess. But now the sounds of laughing children have vanished from the school yard and its memories crumbling away like the building and soon will be erased from the landscape.

Old Rural Schoolhouse

Picture of the Day for April 28, 2013

April 28, 2013

A lot of the snow has melted but there are still no wildflowers blooming. The Jack-in-the-Pulpit also called Parson-in-the-Pulpit seems like an appropriate picture to post on a Sunday. Jack (or Parson) in the Pulpit alludes to the resemblance of the spadix (Jack) in the spathe (Pulpit) to a country parson perched on an elevated stand over his congregation.

One would think that they could have given the preacher a better name than Jack since it sounds like Jack-in-the-box. Now Luke, John, Paul, Mark, James, Daniel, Nathan or Peter would be a better sounding name for a preacher.

Parson-in-the-Pulpit

Picture of the Day for April 27, 2013

April 27, 2013

Spring officially arrived yesterday when the temperature finally got above 60 and the warm wind brought the return of the bluebirds. The robins, red winged blackbirds, wood thrushes, killdeers, grouse, chickadees, warblers, woodpeckers, cardinals and finches were all singing announcing spring but the loudest voice was the chorus of frogs who had emerged from the cold of winter.

Another sign that spring had finally arrived was the pussy willows catkins merging. Before the male catkins of these species come into full flower they are covered in fine, grayish fur, leading to a fancied likeness to tiny cats, also known as “pussies”. The catkins appear long before the leaves, and are one of the earliest signs of spring. Even though I had to walk through snow to find these pussy willows, finding them is definitely a sign that winter may be over.

Pussy Willows

Picture of the Day for April 26, 2013

April 26, 2013

The sun is out, snow is melting and it might actually warm up to a normal temperature today, but there won’t be any dry, green grass for the new calves to sleep on. Instead just cold snow and yucky mud awaits the calves first adventures into the world.

New Calves

Picture of the Day for April 25, 2013

April 25, 2013

This barn seems a bit sad. Maybe it is sad because there is still snow this late into April. Or maybe it is sad because it is remembering ANZAC day, a day celebrated day remembering the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps. ANZAC Day’s motto is ‘Lest We Forget’.

So let us remember all veterans worldwide, especially the veterans in Australian and New Zealand on their celebration day, but also all the other sacrifices made by policemen, fireman, farmers and others that protect us, provide services and goods that allow us to enjoy our existence in this world.

Lest We Forget

Picture of the Day for April 24, 2013

April 24, 2013

On April 24, 1916, Ernest Shackleton and five men of the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition launch a lifeboat from uninhabited Elephant Island in the Southern Ocean to organize a rescue for the ice-trapped ship Endurance. After four rescue attempts, Shackleton made it back to Elephant Island on August 30.

The Endurance became trapped in the Weddell Sea in February 1915 and the expedition had to abandon ship at the end of October. The ice condition made it difficult to travelthan a mile a day so the party camped on the ice waiting for the ice to breakup. Finally in April 1916 the crew made it to Elephant Island and remained there until their rescue in August. It would be more than 40 years before the first crossing of Antarctica was achieved, by the Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition, 1955–58.

After some icy winter days here, there is no way I want to endure the Antarctic ice!

Icy Tree

Picture of the Day for April 23, 2013

April 23, 2013

April showers bring May flowers. But I don’t know what April snow brings except moans and groans! Even the birds seem frustrated with the snow as it covered their bird seed again with the new snow over night.

April Snow

Picture of the Day for April 22, 2013

April 22, 2013

Earth Day is an annual holiday, celebrated on April 22, on which events are held worldwide to demonstrate support for environmental protection.

In 1969 at a UNESCO Conference in San Francisco, the date proposed for Earth Day was March 21, 1970, the first day of spring in the northern hemisphere. A month later a separate Earth Day was founded by United States Senator Gaylord Nelson as an environmental teach-in first held on April 22, 1970.

Nelson chose the date in order to maximize participation on college campuses for what he conceived as an “environmental teach-in”. He determined the week of April 19–25 was the best bet as it did not fall during exams or spring breaks and was late enough in spring to have decent weather.

You would think a senator from Wisconsin would know that April is not late enough to have ‘decent’ weather, especially since it is snowing very heavily on this Earth Day in Wisconsin.

Earth Day

Picture of the Day for April 21, 2013

April 21, 2013