Author: Mary

Well, Spring has definitely sprung here on the edge of the plains. It’s a different transition than the one I grew up with. It starts small, but it grows exponentially once it’s underway.

And one of the reasons it’s so easy to see Spring is how brown everything is in winter. I would guess that in San Diego many of the plants don’t lose their leaves in Winter, so the general landscape continues to have some green. But here, 75% or more of the plants are nothing but brown sticks in winter. Except for the Junipers and pine trees, which in late winter are a sickly sort of olive green/brown color, everything is bare. But within a month of the first buds appearing, the plant life has gone crazy. Everything is blooming and leafing out with abandon.

I always said that the seasons in San Diego were for people who appreciated subtlety, and Spring was no exception. Although the local grasses responded to the rain quite quickly, most of spring didn’t leap to life like it seems to here. Spring here seems to arrive like an earthquake, not much warning beforehand, but them ‘Bam’ there it is.

Spring also seems to be wetter than I’m used to. Had two gray rainy days here this week; that would be very unusual in San Diego. But less morning marine layer here in Boulder.