Spring Equinox

Not only did my calendar say Spring Equinox today (vårdagjämning in Swedish) - the sun was shining, it felt like spring in the air, I found the first spring flowers at last - and even spotted the first butterfly! 

After lunch I went for my usual Friday "recycling walk" to bins located some 10 minutes walk from home; and after I was done with my sorting there, I went to check on a nearby flowerbed along a south-west facing facade - a place where I do often find the very first spring flowers in my neighbourhood... 

And when I got close, I was happy to find not only snowdrops, but also the first few crocuses - and one butterfly, probably still feeling dazed from winter hibernation... (And making me wonder if it, too, knew exactly where to look for the first flowers, because there are certainly not many of them to be seen yet!!)

 

 

"The small tortoiseshell (Aglais urticae) (Swedish: nässelfjäril) is a colourful Eurasian butterfly in the family Nymphalidae. Adults feed on nectar and may hibernate over winter; in warmer climates they may have two broods in a season.  --- Eggs are laid on the common nettle, on which the larvae feed." (Wikipedia)

Weekend Street/Reflections

 

Another sunny early spring afternoon today, and I went for a walk downtown to the city park (Borås, Sweden).

 

They have recently finished a project of reconstructing some of the paths within the park (to make some of the upper parts more easily accessible, I think - but I did not go up to the top to explore that further today).

 

I often walk here, so regular visitors to this blog will no doubt recognise some of the views and buildings - but I can never resist taking yet another photo on a good "reflection" day...

 

Besides what happens in nature, one of the true signs of spring is to see the terraces of the street cafés along the river full of people again...

 

... and also people sitting on park benches, and on the stone steps leading down to the water.

 

This is a bit blurry because it's a selfie reflection photo taken towards one of the curved and tinted windows in the café building in the park.

 

 The big green bunny is looking a bit extra sad as he seems to have damaged one eye over winter.

 

 

Could this be the smallest crocus in the world?? It was only about the size of my thumbnail, and definitely the smallest one I've ever seen in this corner of the world, anyway...  I might also add that it was also the only crocus in bloom that I found on my walk today.

 

I also passed by these snow drops planted along the river on my way back home, though. 

 

Linking to Weekend/Street Reflections #215

Snowdrops and Soap Operas

 

Strong winds blowing + a slightly overexerted knee has kept me mostly indoors over the past few days. I've been out for occasional short walks (as just keeping still is not good either) but I have kept close to home. 

At home, I may have been following a few too many newscasts and discussions (on both radio and TV) about the latest developments in world politics - hoping to hear someone come up with explanations that make sense; but so far I can't say that's happened. (Not making sense in my brain, anyway.) It still feels more like watching a soap opera; but knowing that unfortunately this one is supposed to be "real".

"A soap opera is a television or radio program that airs in episodic series. This means that each episode continues telling a story, which, in turn, tells more of the last episode's story. A single story on a soap opera can be told for weeks, months, or sometimes even years."
https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soap_opera

I prefer the fictional kind. Those may sometimes be hard to make sense of as well; but there it doesn't matter, as one knows from start that it's all just pretend anyway...

AI generated image.

 

Snowdrops

 

I had better luck in my search for signs of spring today, as I found some snowdrops in a flower bed in my neighbourhood. Not the kind dripping down from above, but the kind springing up from down below! :)

 

Snowdrops

We're still having a strangely mild winter here - almost no snow at all so far, but lots of snowdrops already in bloom.

In the Right Direction

Thursday, 8 March – relapse into winter

“There is nothing wrong with change,
if it is in the right direction.”
~ Winston Churchill ~

Sunday, 11 March – Snow gone, and first snowdrop sighted!

I’ve been finding it hard to keep up with the rapid weather changes over the past week, being thrown back into full winter for a couple of days… But now we seem to be on the right track again! Spotting the first spring flowers today cheered me up!