Snow

Yes, go ahead and laugh.  I understand.  But the weather here is very changable.  It's the Alps and Salzburg is in a river valley.

I got up to stretch on Wednesday(I was hunched over the computer cataloging law books) and looked out the window in the Marble Hall and it was snowing.  Jeez.  Snowed for an hour or so and at times it was pretty heavy.  So when the storm was finished there was more snow on the Untersberg than when I got here in March.
It does melt in the summer, so they say.

Green is the word of the day

Everything is suddenly and amazingly green around the schloss.  I didn't notice it until today.  It might be because there aren't a lot of green spaces in Venice.  So when you get to green spaces like here, you notice them more.
There's the deep, dark green that looks almost black of the pine trees, the soft, misty, green of the trees on the island in the lake, and the bright, happy yellow-green of the trees overhanging the lake. 
Even the lake has a green hue today.  Reflections of the trees and spring, yes but it's so intense with everything else.
Like Nature woke up over the weekend and decided to paint a monochrome of green for us to delight in.

Everything but the mountain of course.  It's still got snow on the peak and in the shadows.

Fresh country air

They tell me spring is coming in this part of Austria. I'm taking their word for. It's cold and damp most of the time, although sunny. The most reliable indicator of spring here is not the buds on the trees, the sunshine, the blooming daffodils, or even the melting snow. It is apparently the faint but unmistakable smell of good old fashioned fertilizer.
Yes, the farmers are working the land, turning over the soil and adding manure to the fields. It's the good fresh country air, so they tell me.
Honestly it's not that bad. Hey if that means spring is coming I can live with it.
Had enough winter for a while, so come on spring!
P.S.  went out to the back of the schloss after lunch and saw daffodils.  So spring is peeking around the corner.  Yay!

SPRING!!!!

Yes, it's not really spring yet. And from where I am sitting, probably won't be until Memorial Day. There's still feet of snow in my yard. I wish I could remember where the storm drain grate was, and I'd uncover it to help drain the melt water faster. There's a small pond in my driveway. All I need is koi at this point.

Did you all see that the groundhog said early spring? Yeah right. Poor rodent. Like there was any sun that day. Nobody saw their shadow let alone a poor sleep deprived groundhog. He had to get his sleep cycle all screwed up when everyone knows that the real harbinger(my word of the day)of spring is PITCHERS AND CATCHERS REPORT!

Are there four more beautiful and hopeful words in any language? I can't think of any off hand.
I mean I get all excited when the Boston Globe does it's annual Truck Day reporting. Yes, a bit crazy, but pitchers and catcher report...that's joy. And any player who reports early? It's just an added bonus.

At this time of year I long for two things, bright spring flowers and baseball. I check my garden(when I can see it) for the signs of my bulbs popping and watch the sports channels for baseball reports.
Once my cable company started carrying the MLB Network, February got so much more interesting.
And March gets better when they start showing actual spring training games.