On Saturday, March 21st, I took a walk through the rolling hills and fields of the Norristown Farm Park eagerly looking for signs of Spring.
As you may recall, on February 2nd, a Ground Hog such as this one:
...saw his shadow and grimly foretold six more weeks of winter. This Ground Hog, however, seems to be enjoying his shadow in the quiet stillness of the Farm Park - The sun was bright and comfortably warm.
Looking east, we see the skies were a bright blue with just the scantest traces of clouds and contrail streaks. The corn fields still lay dormant however. The sharp-eyed ones amongst you will see stop signs shimmering in the bright sunlight at the bottom of the hill. They guard the single track railroad that goes from Norristown to Lansdale. I've not seen a train on these tracks since I was in Elementary School, when the trains would run past outside the school house windows on their way to Merck and Company, located in West Point, PA.
My car is parked behind the large dairy barn at the top of the far hill.
To the south, the farm building on the hill houses a large collection of rusty pre-1960 farm tractors. It would be an instant museum but the building is closed to the public. To the right of the barn, is a green water tower that supplied the entire Farm Park with well water back in the day... now it supplies a trout hatchery that lies in the woods at the base of the tower. One can see the trees beginning to bud - the red ones seem to always bud first. The three yellow cement heads wrapped in red open mesh plastic down the hill guard a dilapidated wooden bridge over the railroad tracks, which are deep in a cut here. There are some more yellow cement heads on the other side of the bridge.
The wide open spaces and vistas of the Farm Park are always inviting. The American Robins, Canadian Geese and the Bluebirds were all are out in force Saturday. Some of you may remember the grain elevators and silos to the right edge of the picture.
The grass has begun to turn green once more. Here and there are some dandelions already in bloom, while the trees are only starting to bud. When the trees fill with leaves, you can actually see a lot
less as the green foliage forms impenetrable curtains. In the distance, you can see the steam plume from the Limerick Nuclear Power plant that lies on the bank of the Schuylkill River. My house is near the base of the green water tower in front of the steam plume.
On the last leg of my walk returning to my car, I enjoy seeing the glory of the dairy barn and the cute road sign with the farmer wearing a hat driving the farm tractor. I do not know if farm tractor
drivers wearing hats are bad tractor drivers. I do know, however, it was a perfect day to get out and walk (with or without a dog) or ride a bike.
