white morpho

Wednesday's visit to Magic Wings introduced me to a new butterfly.

This is a white morpho; it wears a subtle beauty.

More butterflies jumped into my camera during our visit. You can see them in the gallery flitter, flutter, butterfly! 2023.

cactus flower

While this reminds me of Christmas cactus I believe it is a different variety of succulent.

It has large flowers and succulent stems; a real beauty!

two

Today's visit to Magic Wings Butterfly Conservatory made me happy. It's always wonderful to stand among butterflies, to feel their touch, to see them in flight and at rest.

I think this is the first time I saw two butterflies of different types where one is standing on the other.

Cairns birdwing butterfly and Euploea core

coastal

Yesterday afternoon's walk in Odiorne Point State Park was timed perfectly from a sky standpoint. The earlier pure blue sky was decorated by inbound clouds.

The small rounded rocks along the coast remained walkable and somehow I managed to stay out of the water.

sunshine

It's still early for outside daffodils here.

This beautiful flower posed for me at the spring flower show at Smith College earlier this month. It brings a ray of sunshine into my day.

on the wall

I headed to Salem yesterday afternoon to see if there was any new art on the walls.

The wall housing small square murals that is usually repainted each year still shows work from 2021. It wasn't until late in my wander that I found a new mural (replacement), a full wall of wonder.

I enjoyed the art on the walls, both old and new.

"DONA MECHO", by Bud Amazonas

sign by the sea

A sign at the end of a dock on the Piscataqua River in Portsmouth, NH wears the words of Robert Dunn, the Poet Laureate of Portsmouth from 1999 to 2001. The words really appeal to me.

---

From here you can see the tide turn like a door on its hinges.

We're just going out.

Do you want anything from the ocean?

glory-of-the-snow

I'd love to see this flower popping out of the snow.

Today the blooms emerged from bare ground.

tiny

I hoped to find flowers when I visited the gardens of Long Hill this afternoon. While it's still early in the season I found tiny flowers scattered across the property. There were snowdrops, crocus, scilla, glory of the snow, winter aconite, and Lenten rose, all lending color and bringing smiles.

It's a good thing that the snow from early in the week has melted and the ground has had a chance to dry out because I couldn't resist getting down on the ground to get photos of the flowers!

The flowers of early spring are wonderful.

pink sand

Pink sand shows between the beach and the sand dunes at the Parker River National Wildlife Refuge. I've seen this more often at the southern end of the refuge; today it decorated the northern end.

The shades of pink and purple come from mineral deposits of rose quartz and garnet.

snowflakes before snow

I headed to Maudslay State Park this afternoon for a quick look before tomorrow's predicted snow hides the flowers that are in bloom. Snowflake flowers live on a hill behind a brick wall, and miniature daffodils and crocus are starting to peek out on another hill that is still half covered in snow.

It's always good to see and visit the early flowers of spring.

first crocus

Meterological spring started on March 1st.

The first sign of spring (to me) is the emergence of color in tiny flowers. Today I saw my first crocus; it's spring!

photos! spring bulb show at Smith College

Early March is about the time each year when I feel that I need flowers and color around me. Luckily the spring bulb show at Smith College opens at that time, problem solved.

A friend and I visited the show on Monday. Communing with the flowers was well worth the drive!

To see more photos, click here to jump to the gallery spring flowers at Smith College :: 2023.

patterns in sand

Patterns are formed in the sand by the outgoing tide.

a glimpse of spring

Today I drove west in the state to visit the spring flower show at The Botanic Garden of Smith College. Tulips and daffodils wore bright colors, a delightful glimpse of the coming season.

a snowman

Yesterday's snow was wet and heavy, compacting quickly in the above freezing temperature.

I was delighted to meet this snowman during my walk today.

outbound

It was about an hour and a half before low tide when I arrived at the Parker River National Wildlife Refuge this afternoon. It was a perfect time for a walk by the ocean, a time to enjoy warming air, to listen to the sound of the waves.

The sky still wore blue although wisps of clouds were starting to solidify.

on a wall

Flowers painted on the wall of the library in West Concord, MA bring a splash of color to the day.

low tide

Rocks and pools of water are exposed on the beach at low tide.

watching

This afternoon was a good time to visit the sheep on the critter walk in Topsfield, MA. It's a 3-mile loop on lightly traveled roads that we have tagged with the name "critter walk" because of the animals that live there.

We were hoping that the sheep would come close to the fence so we could pet them. That didn't happen; the sheep preferred to stand in the field watching the 2-legged creatures watching and talking to them.

winter warmth

The weather forecast indicates that today will be the last day of spring warmth in winter for a bit. The temperature is predicted to drop tomorrow and it appears there may be snow later in the week.

Today was a good day for walking.

trees reflect in Collins Pond, Harold Parker State Forest

a different beach

I often walk the beach at the Parker River National Wildlife Refuge on Plum Island. It is narrow and often quite slanted.

Yesterday I walked the wide, flat beach at Jenness State Beach on the New Hampshire coast. I shared the space with walkers and dogs. There were even some people in the water with surf and paddle boards.

looking inland

Magic light paints the land as I turned my back to the ocean to look at the sand dunes during my low tide walk at the Parker River National Wildlife Refuge on Tuesday.

magical

Low tide on Plum Island was at noon today. That meant that late morning was the perfect time for a walk at Parker River National Wildlife Refuge.

As I walked I listened to the soothing sound of ocean waves and looked at the magical paintings of nature.

early green

As I walked in Maudslay State Park this afternoon I stopped to look at a hillside behind a low brick wall, a place where snowdrop flowers live. It's too early for the early spring blooming flowers but the leaves have started to emerge.

cloudy

I walked under a cloudy sky this afternoon enjoying warmer than winter temperatures.

Trees reflect in the Schuykill River, seen from a trail in Valley Forge National Historical Park.

February flowers

It was a happy surprise to see snowdrops in bloom yesterday. These flowers always seem to appear well ahead of the spring equinox.

layers of light

As I walked in Valley Forge National Historical Park this afternoon the landscape appeared to be wearing layers of light.

rippled

Rippled sand filled with water decorates the beach as low tide approaches.

waiting

As I waited for today's forecasted snow to appear I headed to Harold Parker State Park for a quick view of a snow and ice-covered pond.

view from a boardwalk

From beach to dunes, the view from the boardwalk at the Parker River National Wildlife Refuge includes dune vegetation and trees.

white

The ground was covered, tree branches wore a coating of white, and the air was full of snowflakes.

back to the sea

Today was predicted to be the last day of unseasonable warmth for the week with tomorrow's forecast calling for a return to winter. Knowing that, I headed to Parker River National Wildlife Refuge after the morning rain stopped for a beach walk, arriving two hours before low tide.

I walked on firm sand, I listened to the song of the ocean, and yes, I did manage to get my feet wet.

ocean song

Even though it was wet this morning I needed a walk by the sea. The Parker River National Wildlife Refuge was calling to me.

I arrived about an hour before low tide, a wonderful time for a walk by the ocean. The sound of the waves and the skittering of the sanderlings made up for the windy and wet conditions.

frozen

The surface of Collins Pond in Harold Parker State Forest is wearing ice and snow.

While daytime temperatures have been above freezing, the cooler night temperatures have encouraged local ponds to begin forming ice.

a bit of snow

The weather today was in a state of constant change, going from light snow to rain and back to snow again.

The forecast doesn't call for much accumulation; for now a light layer of snow coats the branches of trees.

rocks and sand

Rocks are highlighted by pools of water, sand, and seaweed on the New Hampshire coast.