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By JUDY WAGNER

Oh, days of uncertainty! By nature, March leaves us in doubt. To look at the landscape is to see uncertainty and confusion. Is the grass greening or is it my willful imagination? Will it stay warmer or will we be blanketed in snow again? Are the tree buds swelling or staying firmly, tightly, safely wrapped?

By JUDY WAGNER

Winter can be a time of clarity. The colors of flowers, shrubs and grasses are stripped down to earth tones. Trees have lost their camouflaging leaves, baring the dark branches highlighted against chill blue or frost-colored skies ripe with unshed snow. The branch patterns are bold, or lacy, sometimes tangled with strangling vine designs. Broken branches become apparent; the squirrels’ nests, often precarious at the tips of limbs, are exposed.

By JUDY WAGNER

It snowed a real snow. Thank goodness. Maybe winter will be like winter again. The year confused — barely any plowable snow last winter; deluges of spring rain; severe drought summer into fall with unnerving fire risk. Seeing the snow decorating the...

By JUDY WAGNER

It’s official. The chipmunks are confused. From Recorder nature columnist Bill Danielson’s informative piece on chipmunks a few weeks ago, we learned how chippies settle into their elaborate underground dens when cold weather hits and snooze away the...

By JUDY WAGNER

 It starts stealthily, at first barely discernible to the casual glance. Then within days the evidence becomes unmistakable: The transition is coming. Color is the clue — a tinge of copper on grasses and a few leaves; a certain shift in the shades of...

By JUDY WAGNER

I love trees — their shapes; their shade; the varied textures of their barks; the colors of leaves from early budding to fall glory; the soothingly steadfast hues of the evergreens. I love the sounds of wind gently stroking or fiercely lashing...

By JUDY WAGNER

 Suddenly, everything is going to seed. Rain and heat earlier in the summer prompted the crabgrass to spread aggressively, and other tall grasses are thrusting up seed stalks galore. Poke weed is setting its berries, as is the invasive bittersweet....

By JUDY WAGNER

 Ah, bless the breeze. After days and days of oppressive temperatures over 90, forcing us to forego outdoor gardening time, we finally had a slight respite. We still couldn’t work outside more than half an hour without being soaked with sweat, but...

By JUDY WAGNER

 Throughout the history of our country there has been a pattern of shifting priorities for the political parties seeking power through elections. There has been some fluidity as people sought the party that best reflected their interests. One group of...

By JUDY WAGNER

 Like it or not, the transitions are upon us. The calendar doesn’t say “summer” yet, but we have already felt some summer heat. The luscious blooms of spring — trees, shrubs and early bulbs — have all passed by, petals falling like forgotten confetti...

By JUDY WAGNER

 This is the time of year that I think about dividing daffodils, tulips, iris and day lilies. I know, I know; I am supposed to do this in the fall, when the bulbs, corms and tubers can be resettled for the winter, to rise again to bloom the following...

By JUDY WAGNER

 At the moment, most trees are still biding their time, shyly staying curled and safe in bud wraps for now. A few days ago that seemed very wise as we woke to a landscape whitened by an April snowstorm. But in just days we will witness the wonderful...

By JUDY WAGNER

This is March’s dilemma: Is it time to be spring or not? March has a tough role to play. It is haunted by the old saying: “In like a lamb, out like a lion; in like a lion, out like a lamb.” March is saddled with expectations of changeable behavior and...

By JUDY WAGNER

 If April is the cruelest month (T.S. Eliot), February must be the most disconcerting. After an inordinately gray January, punctuated by only one noticeable snow, and just one brief stretch of single-digit temperatures overnight, we were left...