Eugene,Oregon welcomes spring

This Sunday afternoon, I headed out the front door with good dog Otis. We were hot on the heals of the reported arrival of Spring, It had rained for several days, with intermittent breaks of sunshine; gloomy to be sure.

Actually, it had rained relentlessly for several months, and I was absolutely done with it!

The previous summer and fall had been unseasonably cool; resulting in a thick blanket of moss and mold covering anything unable to move into the Sun.

The roof and walkways of Orb House, as well as my aging truck and Volvo, had a nice green tinged coating of primordial ooze.

After receiving twice the normal March rain fall, as well as last week’s heavy wet snow, I was a bit concerned as to springs arrival. Judging by the near freezing rain hitting the skylight over my bedroom, warming weather had not yet arrived to Western Oregon.

Looking around the grounds, I noticed that other than a few hardy potted plants; blooming on the deck, we had yet to see any visual signs of a favorable season change.

With camera in hand we headed out for a bit of a walk. The day before, it had rained so hard that driving was dangerous. You couldn't see a darn thing. At one time, no less than 1.5 inches of rain fell in less than an hour. Flood warnings were posted for our area of Lane County, as warming rain melted the snow pack into flood waters.

Oregon Orb House is located on a hill at approximately 900’, so the concern of ground flood waters is minimal. The possibility of our home sliding off the hill? We don’t go there…

I was pleased to discover while taking our two mile walk that some appletree blooms, as well as cherry blossoms; were viewed. Iris spears; daffodils, and oak blossoms were also photographed. All encouraging signs of the coming of warmer weather.

Hopefully,barring any major episodes of hail, severe wind, or heavy snow, the area should experience a fantastic bloom as we enter the month of April.