Peak Plum

Woods this afternoon is soft, full beginning spring.
In the upper Woods, especially the northwest corner, the native Chickasaw plum and naturalized Bradford Pear are full of blossom. Bright white for the pear. White to pink and light brown for the plum. Red buds' purple flowers are mixed among the dark green juniper.
The lower Woods after weeks of dry winds (a very dry March) have finally lost almost all of the standing water from the earlier rains. The upper Woods have been so dry that bare soil along the trails was cracking. The lower Main SW trail kept water along its length, even with the weeks of dry wind. Today the surface of the Main SW trail was in parts wet enough to cling to shoes; but there was no standing water anywhere along its length except small depressions along the side of trail. The soft soil/mud along the main trail was full of tracks of animals. raccoon, opossum, skunk, coyote, deer; others too. I need Nic C. to help me read.
I met Irish and discussed the limits of wood cutting and the value of leaving down wood on the ground to rot in the preserve.
At the SW Gate, just into the Woods I stood and looked up to the canopy. Half of the trees had opened their buds and were beginning to put life into their new leaves. The rest will soon. A magic time of renewing life. Cornus dogwood had tiny scimitars of green leaves beginning. Ligustrum privet was well along with new small rounded leaves. Elaeagnus autumn olive new silvery green leaves were flushed and already new blossoms were beginning to be produced.. not open yet.
Hovering around the small remaining pools of standing water there were some small aggregations of non-biting male mosquitoes that flew up as I passed by. The more pesky biting females will be emerging soon unless the coming rainstorm washes them away.
 I saw two purple violets along the Western Loop of the Tree Loop, There was Dentaria/Cardamine pepper grass with its small white flowers. The Wash still had abundant water, mostly full, although not flowing.
I walked much of the southern lower Woods to check for branches down in the blowing winds of the past fortnight. There was a fair amount, but all small branches (except for the large dead cedar I cleared last week from blocking the Western Loop). I thought about how quickly the Woods will revert to a wilder, less easily navigated version of itself when I am gone from here. The wildlife will be happier, no doubt, with less human traffic.
One bumble bee passing through, happy to have pollen and nectar from plum and pear again, after the long winter.