Breath of spring on a snowy February Friday!

The spring beauty is a small wildflower that has versions in nearly every state. This image is courtesy of chicagowildernessmag.org . Don't be fooled by the red beetle with black spots! That's not a lady bug. Wrong shape. I suspect a lily beetle. Anyway, take a deep breath if you are in snow country (or one of the states that just had terrible tornadoes, or otherwise have lousy weather today. Spring is on its way!

My daughter clipped a bunch of forsythia branches and they just came into bloom today. What a life saver in the snow and dark of Febuary! The close-up image of the yellow forsythia blooms are courtesy of http://www.extension.iastate.edu