Out with the old, and in with the new.

Perhaps today’s photo will be the last snow photo I take of the winter season.  Officially, it has been spring for 11 days but most of that time has still felt and looked like winter.

This morning, I heard a truly official sign of spring.  I heard an Eastern Phoebe outside my cabin door, singing its heart out just after dawn this morning. Spring has officially arrived now!

Despite the snow still left on Roundtop, the resort has closed for the season after 115 days of skiing, a record for them, I believe. For me, the closing means that the mountain is quiet again.  I’m far enough over on the western side of the mountain that it’s rarely noisy from the hordes of skiers, but I do hear car noises or the occasional teenage squeal, and the total silence now is noticeable.

This is the quietest time of year on the mountain.  In another month or so, the leaves will be out and they are nearly never silent.  They rustle and whisper to their own music, a constant background of notes and chatter.  But right now, they are silent, and only birdsong fills the air.