Ben with moss garden

Ben the bad cat with moss garden

 Roundtop Mtn. didn’t get any of the snow that fell further south this weekend. In fact, the weather, while not warm, still felt rather balmy as the wind was calm and the sun often appeared.

During the late afternoons, temperatures were in the mid-40’s, and when I was out and about I still saw a lot of people sitting on their porches and enjoying the mild weather. I saw a few in t-shirts, but I think that might have been taking things a bit far. Up on the mountain I ran all my outside chores without a coat, though I don’t think I would have wanted to sit outside without at least a light jacket.

One thing I accomplished this past weekend was to create small moss garden that will sit on my kitchen table. Over the past week or so I started gathering a few things to include in it. And I finally found the small stone with moss on it that I was seeking. The rock is not as thoroughly covered with moss as I would like, but it’s close enough. I found a couple different kinds of moss and a stick with moss on it. I bought the large clump of moss you can see in the far corner, but the other mosses were found on the mountain. The first photo is not the best, but Ben the cat wanted his photo taken with the moss garden, so I was forced to oblige him.

At this point in the so-called winter season, I doubt winter will bother to arrive at all. That said, I haven’t yet found any actual signs of spring in the landscape or in the birds, but that can’t be far away. Cardinals, song sparrows and bluebirds are singing, but those all sing even in a snowy February, so they don’t count.

Nighttime temperatures fall into the mid or upper 20’s, but every day works its way above freezing before noontime. This freeze-thaw pattern, bad enough in a normal winter, is likely going to create some mythic potholes around the area, certainly enough to keep the local road crews busy for much of the spring.

With such a mild winter, I’m wondering and worrying about the upcoming bug season. Fleas, ticks, stink bugs, mosquitos and who knows what else are likely to be in greater numbers as there’s barely been a hard frost and virtually no snow cover or frozen ground. I can’t say I’m looking forward to any of that, though as long as winter isn’t going to bother arriving, I’m starting to wish we might as well get on with spring.