Good morning or good evening, wherever you may be. It is just past 2:00 .m. in "The City."

Once again, this seems like a good time to start with the weather conditions here in the Tri-Cities area. I awoke to the sound of thunder a short time ago. Naturally, STWD was last seen scurrying to her hide-e-hole to ride out the storm, so to speak. The NWS had issued a Severe Weather Warning for Ottawa, County, including our fair city, that was in effect until approximately 2:00 a.m.

A current temperature of 41° accompanied those T-storms and there was a possibility of winds gusting to 50 mph and hail the size of quarters. As I gazed out the WW (Weather Window), the rain had yet to fall in any significant amount, but the lightning was flashing and the thunder was rumbling. Whether we'd actually see any significant rain was always in question. I did hear a tapping, a tap, tap tapping, at my window pane, so I guess the rain began to fall. Oops, I was channeling Edgar Allen Poe from his poem The Raven there for a second.

Yesterday, we had a unique lunch before we went to the Hemlock Crossing Nature Center for what was billed as an Equinox Expedition. That name was derived from the fact that @ 6:29 a.m. this morning, the end of winter will occur and it will be the start of spring and of the longest days of the year. That basil we went in search of on Saturday was placed on those tomato halves that I mentioned in my previous blog. Along with some garlic and nutritional yeast and I forget what else, the result was a delicious repast. Here are two pictures of lunch, taken by our staff photographer.

It tasted as good as it looks.

In addition, Mary added some leftover pasta and Coleslaw from the day before to round out the meal.

The Coleslaw is in a nearby bowl.

But once again, I digress. As I mentioned earlier, we traveled to Hemlock Crossing Nature Center for that Equinox Expedition and while there, I took many pictures of this beautiful member of our Ottawa, County Park System and also of the things we saw while there.

Winter is a beautiful time @ Hemlock.

People of all ages were along for the expedition. 

We first went to the meadow in the park where we saw the emergence of Woodland Frogs from their long winter's nap. It seems that these amphibians actually can become what one of the naturalists called "Frogsicles". actually able to survive up to nine months hibernating in freezing temperatures. They emerge each year in mid-March to begin their mating rituals that are accompanied by the sound of the male frogs calling out to potential mates, who are larger and of a slightly different coloration. Oddly, the frogs seemed to have emerged earlier this year due to the warm winter temperatures that predominated here in West Michigan. 

This group of three male frogs was in the waters next to the foot bridge. While we were in the meadow, Curtis released a woodland frog that they had found on the previous day's frog viewing expedition. This frog was given the name of Lazarus as he was seemingly dead when Curtis found him on Saturday, but he slowly came back to life overnight as he thawed out. 

The meadow is wet right now but will be mostly dry later in the spring and summer.

This is Curtis, one of the naturalists who led the expedition.

We continued our expedition into the trails of the park and learned about the Beech trees there and also some interesting facts about the other flora and fauna to be found in the park. I asked how Beech trees propagate and I learned that they reproduce by dropping Beech nuts that are produced by the mature trees, but not necessarily every year. In addition, young Beech trees hold their leaves through the winter, like Oak trees. We also learned that White Pine trees can be identified by their needles which come in groups of five.

As we walked, we also saw the emergence of Skunk Cabbage in the springs and wetlands of the park. Given the sand that is part and parcel of the terrain in Michigan, the springs pop up anywhere the rains fall and the conditions are right. Worthy of note is that the water temperatures stay warm and so they may continue to flow during the winter. The Skunk Cabbages can be 10 to 12 degrees warmer than the cold water which allows them to get an early start to their growing season in the spring, actually poking through the snow and ice.

Skunk Cabbages in the stream.

This log which fell across one of the streams formed by the springs was covered by what I believe Curtis called Shelf  Fungus.

Thes plants are called Skunk Cabbage because of their pungent odor when the leaves are broken.  The leaves are toxic to people, but some animals can eat them.

In addition, we saw a tree that had been felled by a beaver. Beavers don't climb, so they fell the entire tree to be able to gather the upper branches for food. 

Fortunately, this tree which was toppled by the wind fell into the forest but not across the nearby river nor the walking path, which would have necessitated it being cut to allow for kayaks and people to pass.

We had a great time, and the expedition took longer than the one hour that was scheduled for the tour. As we were leaving, we spotted a Bluejay in a nearby tree. We had learned earlier that Bluejays and Swallows compete for the available nesting areas so the nature center is trying placing two houses next to each other to eliminate the need to compete for a single nesting spot.

That's one of a pair that calls the park home. Interestingly, Bluejays do not necessarily pair for life.

That is a lot of blogging for one day. The rains and T-storms did indeed come and have since moved along as forecast. All is once again quiet.

I nearly forgot to mention that the Wolverines of Michigan defeated the Cardinals of Louisville in the NCAA tournament by a score of 73 - 69. Unfortunately, the Spartans of Michigan State fell to the far stronger Jayhawks of Kansas 70 - 90.  

Today, we have no specific plans and that's fine with me. The sun will rise @ 7:47 a.m. and set @ 7:57 p.m. Ciao.