It isn't unusual in the North Carolina Piedmont for early spring flowers to begin in late February and get hit by a cold snap in March.
What made this year unusual was that we had some warm days in early February and by the second week in February there were already quite a few early spring flowers.
The first 3 shots show what happened to those flowers that jumped the gun after we had some very cold nights.
I made a point of photographing as many flowers as possible as they began to bloom knowing they were unlikely to last very long.
It doesn't bother me how brief some of the spring blooms will be because it was actually nice to have a lot of February blooms no matter how brief.
I find expectations have a lot to do with how I feel in general.
It's not that I'm suggesting low expectations as a positive in all situations but as regards to the aspects outside my control like how long early flowers last, I don't have any expectations.
In general the older I get the less I let expectations cause me to be disappointed.
Of course that's easier when the majority of your life is over so no matter what happens it won't be interminable.
I'll admit that I have to remind myself of that when I watch the news and even comedy about the current political situation.
Also, since I have an adult child who will hopefully have close to 5 more decades ahead, or maybe more, I don't want their life to be filled too long with the toxic politics we have in the United States.
I remember thinking there would never be anyone worse than Richard Nixon in the White House.
I think never is a good word to avoid.
That said, I don't want to contemplate a worse political situation than what we have now where I live.
I've almost reached the earliest shots I took between January and March.
There is something very beautiful to me about a still winter day.
I admire the patience of the fishers.
It's certainly seems like the life of a water bird is difficult.
There's something I like about the mass of gulls that look like tiny jewels from a distance.
When they start to fly they almost look like white moths from far away.
Reflections are always interesting to me.
The full moon through the trees is fun to watch.
I took the last shot with my cell phone of the downtown Durham, NC post office.
