January Surprise!

 

Poking their spring leaves, and buds, through the sun-drenched soil at the beach, these daffodils are at least 2-3 months early! It's January, folks! I can only imagine that our lack of snow this winter, our fairly balmy days, and this rock facing due south sheltering the bulbs and reflecting the sunlight onto the soil, combined to give these daffies an early start. A very early start! We will have a winter though, I'm sure. There is a little bit of snow in the forecast for the next week, but only an inch or so along the shoreline. February can be a brutal month though, so a "real" winter might be just around the corner. 

Bonus Photos:

Low tide at the beach reveals the nature of this week's high tide line—thousands of tiny seashells. After a storm, this line might be strewn with debris, flotsam and jetsam, as it were, consisting of wood, broken buoys, etc. Other times it might consist of mainly seaweed and sponges and crabshells.

Looking almost like a mirage, New York's Long Island is visible in the upper left of this photo. Sometimes it's clear enough to tell the difference between the sandy shores and the darker green vegetation on top. Most of the time it's barely visible from the Madison shoreline. I believe it's about 15 miles as the crow flies at this part of the Sound.

The third, and final, Amaryllis bud has bloomed. Their shape really reminds me of the "morning glory" horns on early record players like my Edison Gem.