While we wait for spring

May 1, 2015

This might just be the longest winter ever. I'm a newcomer to the Peninsula so this may be average, but snow on the ground on May 1st is just wrong to me.

I don't really want to live in a place where there is still snow in May but we can't help where we're born. In our case, Canada.

We tried immigrating south (because Maine became home) but we gave up when the process proved too arduous. We've made peace, for now, with living in a cold climate, that is until one of our kids moves either to the west coast or back south to the land of their birth. In either case, I suspect we'll follow. Until then, I live in a region with snow on the ground in May.

The last time I took an outdoor photo at home was on April 14th. There are very few inspiring subjects to photograph right now. There is the matted straw of dead grass, grey trees, white patches of snow, mud where the snow is melting and the occasional blue sky. So, no photos except these beauties from the beach, two weeks ago, before our trip to Montreal.

It's a good time to share some trail photos taken last spring.

When we were on the trail I had hoped to take photos daily, upload and edit them every couple days on the iPad, and then publish them on the blog or to Facebook on our town stops. I think I managed six or eight weeks of this, commendable really, before it all broke down.

For one thing, my camera stopped working in the moisture and humidity of being held close to my stinking, sweaty body day in and day out. Hiking in the rain didn't help either. After a couple days of this nonsense and some TLC my camera started mostly functioning again, but the back display screen remained frozen and hasn't worked ever since. What a bummer.

Then there was simply the issue of time. Not enough of it. Not enough time in camp, not enough time in town, not enough time to sleep, not enough time to eat, not enough time to relax, certainly not enough time to regularly edit and share photos. And yes, I'm still a bit bitter about this. And my camera malfunction.

Shortly after finishing our hike, or maybe even during, I cleared the first few weeks of photos from my iPad (I have copies on my computer). But for some reason the photos from early May remained. I think because it was a beautiful time in our journey.

The honeymoon period was just coming to an end, which was hard, but North Carolina and Tennessee were some of my favorite parts of the trail. Spring's burst of growth was energizing and photographing all the that new green and forest floor blossoms was exhilarating.

Most of these photos made it to Facebook but I don't think any of them made it to the blog. When I found them on my iPad they brought back so many good memories and warmed my heart with thoughts of spring, even though, on this chilly May 1st morning, it doesn't feel like spring to me at all.

So, for a little trip down Appalachian Trail memory lane, and to stick it to the winter that never ends, I'm going to share some photos today and in the next couple days from last year, taken on the trail in late April and early May.

April 29, 2014 the Appalachian Trail in North Carolina

Our 11 mile trek through Hot Springs, crossing the spring-swollen French river, making camp at Spring Mountain Shelter, eating Damien's fabulous cooking, and relaxing in the long light of an an insect-free spring evening.

Ah, the trail, if it weren't so darn hard, I'd be tempted to go every spring.

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