Vermont March Weekend Scenes

March in Vermont is when winter ends only reluctantly. This weekend has been a good example.

Turkeys in the corner of my St. Albans, Vt. yard Saturday morning.

I awoke Saturday morning at my St. Albans, Vermont house to a dusting of unexpected snow that put the lid on the nice thaw the day before. Turkeys in my yard picked through the snow, looking for scraps of food. By the looks of things, they were successful.

Ice piles up after a thaw along the Missisquoi River near East Berkshire, Vt.

That thaw shifted the ice in rivers, and it piled up in spots to jam, back up water, or at least make some jumbled natural ice sculptures. The north wind Saturday froze the moving ice into place, where it will stay until the next thaw.

The day stayed chilly, but the March sun is strong and erased the skim of snow and softened the earth, enabling me to get some early landscaping work done outside. At the end of the day, I turned the corner and spotted a flash of purple near the foundation on the south side of my house, where the early spring warmth collectes.

Crocuses! There is hope for spring. But not right away. It's Sunday morning and it's 15 degrees. We're supposed to get a couple inches of snow tomorrow. And several inches more midweek.

Crocuses appeared this weekend on a sunny corner near my house.

Spring officially arrives today, but in Vermont, Mother Nature isn't going to let the season in the door just yet. Winter is one of those guests who doesn't know when to leave, so we have to put up with that for a little while longer.