More nattering about seasons

[redbird]

cattitude had a dental appointment this morning, for root canal work. I went downtown with him, as moral support: while he was in back with the dentist, I went to Starbucks, had a cup of tea and a scone, chatted a bit with a stranger, and then walked in Central Park for a little while. On that loop of park, I saw a rhododendron in bloom, and then several periwinkle flowers. (Those are spring flowers; looking back at this journal, I confirmed that I saw the first of both earlier than usual this spring.)

When the dentistry was done, I mentioned the flowers to Cattitude, who wanted to see them. From there, we wandered a while more, and added more periwinkles and some late wild strawberries—both flowers and tiny red fruit. The park, and that bit of the Upper West Side, also have some nice fall colors, still. (We also saw a few violets, some late roses, and a variety of autumn flowers I don't know names for, leading to comments like "more of those light purple things.")

The most startling bit, and perhaps the most delightful, was a huge willow south of the Sheep Meadow. It's still in leaf, bright green with the first hints of yellow. This spring, I noticed that willow because it leafed out unusually early; it's not that weird that the first willow would also be the last, microclimates being like that, but the willows up in Inwood Hill Park turned yellow and dropped all their leaves a month ago.

The day felt like mid-November, and I was glad to be dressed warmly, but it looked more like mid-October.

Comments

[amaebi]

Thank you for this fascinating, terrible, and beautiful news.