We went from zero to sixty degrees in the space of a week here in southeastern Wisconsin. If I could summarize what that feels like to get so springlike, so fast, in a part of the country where winter can and does tend to hang around like the smell of a ripe Limburger, well, there aren't enough exclamation marks to capture our collective joy. And being a fairly stoic lot, we don't like to lose our minds in public like that, Packer or Badger games notwithstanding.
So we do things like crack a couple windows, wash the salt off the car, break out the Harley, and smile more.
Norm and I went for a walk yesterday on a favorite nature trail along the northern edge of the marsh, as I've blogged about several times in the past five years. (I know, right? Five years doing this blogging thing, whodathunk?) It's not lush and colorful in the early spring, and the wildlife is fairly sparse yet, although we heard some returning geese and sand hill cranes overhead.
Gulls were congregating on the remaining ice in this pond.
But the main visual attraction on this day turned out to be a prescribed burn just getting underway as we started our walk.
First one fire, then two, three...
Pretty soon, a whole line was ignited. It was pretty impressive.
The wind was blowing away from the nature trail, so there was no risk of anything coming our way. We could not even smell it.
I was enjoying the various gradients of gray contained in the ever-changing billows of smoke superimposed on a blue sky.
If you think of hand-dyed fabric when you watch a brush fire...you might be a quilter!
Back home, I was feeling a little peckish, and remembering it was Pi Day, I shaped my cookie dough batter into one big, pie-shaped cookie. This was a chunky peanut butter chocolate chip recipe, gluten-free and easy as, well, pie.
I scored it into wedges with the dull edge of a knife before baking. After it came out of the oven but was still warm, I cut it all the way through with the edge of the spatula. Yum! Did you celebrate the special, once-a-century PI Day yesterday, with pie or otherwise?
We've hardly had winter here. I haven't mentioned it because I know what it is like to have a long hard winter and I didn't want to rub it in. Now that you've got spring too, we can celebrate together! I've already got daffodils blooming. Although, since our winter was mild, we're in for a long, hot, dry summer.
No pi celebrations with pie here. My sister's birthday is on pi day, though. I never realized it until this year. Your pie cookie looks awesome.
There's something so dramatic about a fire and the changing colors and movement of the smoke coming from it. Your pictures capture it beautifully....and I'm glad the wind was taking it in the opposite direction. You know I was all about the PI this weekend. Hand pies in apple, caramel pecan, blueberry and cranberry walnut. Good stuff Maynard.
You know how Jeff Foxworthy has that whole "You might be a Redneck" comedy routine? You could do the "You might be a Quilter" version Paulette! Ripe Limberger aside, LOL, bo do I remember what that smells like, it sure is great that you got some Spring weather. That Pi cookie is doing bad things for my diet!
The rolling smoke is so dramatic against the blue sky!
ReplyDeletePi Day Cookie: yum.
Cool photos! Very pretty indeed.
ReplyDeleteWe've hardly had winter here. I haven't mentioned it because I know what it is like to have a long hard winter and I didn't want to rub it in. Now that you've got spring too, we can celebrate together! I've already got daffodils blooming. Although, since our winter was mild, we're in for a long, hot, dry summer.
No pi celebrations with pie here. My sister's birthday is on pi day, though. I never realized it until this year. Your pie cookie looks awesome.
xo -E
Ripe Limburger, eh? You always tickle my funny bone with something or other! That is a very interesting color scheme captured by your quilter's eye.
ReplyDeleteI had not heard of PI day, so thanks for sharing the photo of the big cookie with us (leaving us drooling)!
ReplyDeleteThe prescribed burn was very interesting in the way that you captured the different shades of the smoke!
There's something so dramatic about a fire and the changing colors and movement of the smoke coming from it. Your pictures capture it beautifully....and I'm glad the wind was taking it in the opposite direction. You know I was all about the PI this weekend. Hand pies in apple, caramel pecan, blueberry and cranberry walnut. Good stuff Maynard.
ReplyDeleteYou know how Jeff Foxworthy has that whole "You might be a Redneck" comedy routine? You could do the "You might be a Quilter" version Paulette! Ripe Limberger aside, LOL, bo do I remember what that smells like, it sure is great that you got some Spring weather.
ReplyDeleteThat Pi cookie is doing bad things for my diet!
The fire and smoke photos are awesome. Don't you just LOVE the deep blue skies?
ReplyDelete