We have been bemoaning the fact lately that we are really short on good spring pictures of Virginia State Parks. Spring is a great time to visit our parks as nature awakens from its annual slumber. You can keep California, Florida and even Hawaii (well maybe), give me a climate that has 4 distinct season any day!
But, as I drove around Hungry Mother State Park the last couple of days, Ifinally figured out the problem:Spring pops out gradually.
Well, duh, of course it does. But the problem is, it pops out against a stark and not particularly scenic winter background. Obviously autumn pops out too, but you have all of the green left from summer as a backdrop as the vibrant reds, yellows, and oranges start shouting their presence.
That might be part of Spring’s charm but it sure makes it hard to capture in photographs, at least early Spring any way. While daffodils are usually the first harbingers of spring where I live, those poor flowers can get easily fooled. Warm weather in late February had those guys popping out only to get snowed on big time on March 1st. So I wait for the forsythia. It can still get a little cool still, but when the forsythia blooms, Iknow that winter is over. The house I lived in up to the second grade had a backyard lined with forsythia bushes along the back fence. Maybe those halcyon years of childhood are responsible for my fondness for the yellow blooms.
Anyway, the forsythia is out at reservations for Hungry Mother State Park online now, or call 800-933-7275.