#thaw

[margocooper]

Плети Хмеля обыкновенного, или Хмеля вьющегося (лат. Húmulus lúpulus) покрытые тающим снегом. Февраль 25. Vines of common hop (lat. Húmulus lúpulus) covered with melting snow. February 25.

[thunderstruck9]

Anders Andersen-Lundby (Danish, 1841-1923), Tøvejr i en bøgeskov [Thaw in a Beech Forest], 1881. Oil on canvas, 150 x 250 cm. Statens Museum for Kunst, Copenhagen

[weirdlookindog]

Anne W. Brigman (1869–1950) - Thaw, 1906

[michaelnordeman]

At the edge of the forest. Värmland, Sweden (February 17, 2024).

[adventuresofalgy]

A thaw was setting in!

Although it remained chilly, with persistent patches of ice and frost in the shadier areas of the garden, the weather was undoubtedly changing, and much wetter and somewhat milder air was sweeping in rapidly from the great Atlantic Ocean. The climate on the west coast of the Scottish Highlands was about to return to normal: wild, wet and windy…

Algy hopped about the garden, looking for something to sing about, for in the short, dark days of mid-January, with all the festivities well past, and the longer, brighter days of spring still many weeks away, it was not always easy to find inspiration, and he knew that many of his friends felt gloomy at this point in the year.

Hoping to see signs of the first snowdrops, perhaps, Algy suddenly flopped down on the grass in astonishment, for the shoots he had spotted were not those of snowdrops, but daffodils… in mid-winter! And two or three shoots were even showing flower buds!

Even in the so-called mild climate of the wild west Highlands of Scotland, which is supposedly "warmed" by the North Atlantic Drift, this was remarkable in January. Algy rejoiced and, reflecting that out of the darkness, light will surely come, he leaned forward to whisper some words of encouragement in their fresh green ears,:

And now my spring beauties, Things of the earth, Beetles, shards and wings of moth And snail houses left From last summer's wreck, Now spring smoke Of the burned dead leaves And veils of the scent Of some secret plant, Come, my beauties, teach me, Let me have your wild surprise, Yes, and tell me on my knees Of your new life.

[Algy is whispering the poem Spring Song II by the 20th century American poet Jean Garrigue.]

[wild-e-eep]

Gradual thaw and lichens :-3

[proteidaes]

Winter days or spring days 🌱❄️

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photoshop

[dragon-subway]

been thinking about them a whole bunch

[rat-at-heart]

When your mom told you to take out the frozen trash to thaw for dinner but you forgot and now her car is pulling into the driveway

[livejournallegacy]

Tony Hawk's American Wasteland (2005) 3. Astro Zombies - My Chemical Romance "We grew up listening to [the Misfits]. They're from New Jersey which we’re real proud of."

[blog-bellle]

Source: Spectrum, FB

[margocooper]

Растительный мир полей во время оттепели. Следы на рыхлом снегу местных обитателей. Январь 25. Flora of the fields during the thaw. Footprints in the loose snow of local inhabitants. January 25.

[thunderstruck9]

Modest Huys (Belgian, 1874-1932), Thaw along the river Lys, 1917. Oil on canvas, 45 x 65 cm.

[roselynvictoria]

Thaw by Ladislav Mednyánszky (1877–1880)

[michaelnordeman]

A grey January day. Värmland, Sweden (January 2, 2022).

[adventuresofalgy]

After the storm had passed, the sky cleared for a while, so that at times it was even possible to see some welcome patches of blue. But massive clouds were still racing in from the Atlantic on a strong breeze, so that although the low January sunshine was pleasantly bright at times, it was soon obliterated by a fresh wave of grey, sometimes accompanied by a battering shower of hail, for the temperature had dropped back down again, and there was fresh snow on the hills.

Algy was feeling rather weary, for he had discovered that big storms were tiring and stressful, even for fluffy birds, so when the sun burst through and it looked as though it might last for longer than a few minutes, he flopped down on his assistants' tree seat and indulged in a wee bit of winter sunbathing – or, to be more accurate, light-bathing – trusting his fluffy feathers to keep him warm in the icy air.

He was suprised to see that although it certainly didn't feel like spring, the spring bulbs were far more advanced than usual for this time of year, with some of the daffodils which normally didn't flower until early March showing coloured buds already. And the sunlight, although still low enough to cast long, deep shadows, was a great deal brighter than it had been, which helped to create the illusion that spring had arrived well before its time.

As he rested comfortably in the sunshine, Algy thought of all his friends in the snow-bound areas of the northern hemisphere, for whom spring was still nothing but a chimera, and he hoped that a thaw would reach them soon. He wondered whether the birds in those areas could perhaps already detect what his human friends could not, for it was certain that no matter how cold it was at present, winter would inevitably pass, and spring would come again:

Over the land freckled with snow half-thawed The speculating rooks at their nests cawed And saw from elm-tops, delicate as flowers of grass, What we below could not see, Winter pass.

[Algy is quoting the short poem Thaw by the late 19th/early 20th century Welsh/English poet Edward Thomas.]