Spring is Coming!

If I drive 80 miles east, I find myself high in the Cascades where it is the middle of winter.  If I drive 80 west, spring is definitely starting.  I live in the in-between zone.

I sketched this pussy willow and bumble bee on February 1.  The bush grows right on the edge of the Coquille River, about one mile from the Pacific Ocean.  More than one bee was buzzing about.  The willow surprised me because the same branch had fairly tight buds and others that were already full of pollen.

Willows have male and female plants, but I believe they are on separate bushes.  These would all be female.