We had our first big thunderstorm in the early a.m. today.  I had gotten used to the unseasonably warm weather we've been having here in the Upper Midwest and had planned on visiting the farm I frequent in the warmer months this morning. The milk shortage during the winter months is officially over, so the girls on the farm are in full milk production now.  Their calves began being born on All Snakes Day this year.  All are born as of today, March 30, 2012.   I will plan on getting a head count and meeting the cows and their calves on a warmer day, since the weather this morning was very cold and rainy.  High today is 38 degrees.

After bundling up in several layers, I headed outdoors to discover something new.  My first discovery in the gloomy morning chill, was this old cornfield (pictured above).  I stopped and took in the dark sky of the morning and watched the clouds move NE across the sky.  I noticed the pools of rain collected in the field and felt relieved to know we're finally having March-like weather, rain and all.

Yonder down the road, Covered Bridge Park was also fairly flooded (as seen in above photo and top of page photo).   I don't think it was typical for a human to be wandering around at the park in the early morning rain, since I startled up several Canadian geese and a pair of Sandhill cranes only a few yards away from me. They merely flew up a few feet and moved a few more yards away before settling on the bank of the Cedar Creek again.  Although I was bundled up, I felt frozen to the bone after about ten minutes.  A pair of crows across a flooded area from me, flew up and over the top of my head and into a large oak tree behind me.  I took it as my queue to get back into some warmth.

After finding a warm drink in Cedarburg, I headed to Lime Kiln Park in Grafton, WI.  The above photo is part of the Milwaukee River East-West Watershed, which is part of the Milwaukee River Basin.  I followed the river SW to softer current.

Last week the DNR reported the sturgeon in Wolf River had started to spawn due to the warm weather.  Currently, there are several area sturgeon reintroduction projects in the SE part of Wisconsin.  It's one of my hopes to see a healthy population of this incredibly beautiful and awe-inspiring fish.

My hot drink was long gone, and I was fully frozen from the morning's discovery adventure.  I decided it was time to get back to the mundane world of work and chores.  But before completely out of the park I discovered this fella who looked like he was on his own discovery adventure.

It was lovely to end this morning's gloomy adventure with the sighting of this crow.  This morning's discoveries spoke patience and waiting to me.  Soon the flooded fields will slowly drink up all the standing water, but for now it is a slow drip-by-drip process.  The green world slowly begins to uncoil from the earth, branch, or stone from which it grows from.  The birth of land, air, and water animals grow in strength and wait for the shelter and source of food the leaves of trees and plants provide.
 So we wait, in patience, on this cusp of lush vital green explosion.

She uncoils and begins to twist

Earlier this week was the vernal equinox.  The equinox is the time of year when the date is of equal day and night.  There are two equinoxes per year. The date of the spring equinox varies from year to year, falling between March 20-22 each year. For those of us located here in the higher latitudes, this date typically occurs before the March equinox and daytime will continue to be longer than nighttime until the September equinox.  This year's date fell on March 20th.

The vernal equinox is also known as the spring equinox.  Ostara is another name for this date.  In Wiccan faith, Ostara is observed.  This is a joyous celebration and is the marking of longer days and shorter nights.  Life awakens from hibernation.  Life begins to spring forth from the thawing earth and young animals begin to emerge.  The egg is a typical symbol used during Ostara celebrations.  Decorating eggs is an ancient custom in many traditions and predates the Christian Easter egg.  The Ostara egg represents fertility, bringing the new, and can be made into magical talismans to hang or place in one's home to bring whatever the resident(s) hope to cultivate in their lives in the coming months.  The rabbit is another symbol of  Ostara,  being a very fertile and very active reproducing creature.  In many Irish homes,  snakes are often brought into Ostara decorations, too.  St. Patrick's Day (also sometimes referred to as "All Snakes Day") lands a few days before the equinox.  The legend of St. Patrick, in short form is, he drove all snakes out of Ireland.  In this legend, the snakes are a metaphor for the conversion of the Pagan Irish to the Roman-Catholic church.  Celebrating Ostara and All Snakes Day, in our home, is the celebration of our Pagan Irish heritage as the earth begins to uncoil, much like a hibernating snake, from the frozen earth and begins to emerge at  spring equinox.

This blog has been a long time coming.  For years I have read and reread my grandmother's and great grandmother's works and have come to the realization I am following in their footsteps through journaling and photo taking of nature.

My love of nature, our earth, and the universe in which we spin, comes from the deep marrow of my bones, the essence of my spirit, and blood that has been past down to me from my ancestors.  Most often while wondering yonder down a forest path, a memory; not my memory, but an instinctual, ancestral memory comes to me.  With this blog I hope to collect, refer to, and discover unspoken parts of nature with gratitude for any wisdom that may be shared with me.  

And so my yonderings begin.