Yesterday was mostly drab here, but the temperatures were in the mid- to upper-30s (F), which meant that we had a February melt. Here you see the warmth revealing tractor traces in our north field and destroying the evidence of the many critters that sneak through there:
As that was going on, the pond ice was being softened, offering the prospect of having some clear water there soon until fickle February decides – and she almost certainly will – to freeze things up again.
Meanwhile, there’s hope embodied in knowing that, deep below that melting pond ice, muck-entombed painted turtles exist somewhere between life and death, oblivious to February’s caprices. They always have emerged in the spring, and we’re counting on them to do so again this year. (Image taken in Brooklin, Maine, on February 2, 2024.)