Happy First Day Of Skunk Cabbage!

Day 164: I didn't know it when I left for town this morning, but today was a holiday. Oh, not the kind of holiday you're thinking about, no, but to me, the First Day of Skunk Cabbage is one of the major celebrations of the year. It marks the turning of the season. Winter is gone. Spring is here. The date is flexible, of course, based solely upon when I personally observe that bright splash of color in some local bog. The vivid yellow spathe and chartreuse spadix emerge before the leaves of this odiforous plant, unlike its eastern red-purple cousin whose leaves pop through the ground before the flower. Skunk Cabbage blooms in March in the Pacific Northwest, and I've seldom celebrated this day so early in the month. I won't argue! Let Spring come in on the scent of Skunk Cabbage! It's an acquired appreciation, but I love it!