Cow parsnip (Heracleum maximum), just sprouted in the prairie, alongside a clump of Idaho fescue.

I was surprised and delighted to see this sign of spring today. Since my last post, an awesome and unusual late winter storm clobbered us. First the temperature dropped, as low as -15º, and then about a week later we were assaulted by fourteen inches of snow in 24 hours--it was wild! So, I didn't get the cabinet-making finished upstairs (I was stuck because I do final sanding out on the porch, and it has been too snowy, icy, wet, and miserable for the last month out there!), which means I didn't get anywhere on the new gourd banjo because I promised Dona I wouldn't start on it until I finished her room upstairs. I did get the perfect piece of maple to build the spine of that banjo from Paul Hill in Moscow--thanks! Anyway, just this last week I've at last gotten sanding done and am oiling a couple of cabinet doors. The project is back on track.

There is salt-and-pepper lomatium (lomatium gormanii) coming up and it's even blooming in a few south-facing sunny spots by the railroad tracks in Palouse, but elsewhere it looks like the unexpected winter weather over the last few weeks has delayed Spring a bit for the native prairie.

The bad weather has been good for playing, recording, and writing, though, and now I am getting the kinks out of my Irish fiddling, as I will be playing for several hours on Thursday, Saint Patrick's Day.

Things are stirring, at last...