SPRING!!!!! Finally!!!

After a very, very long winter,  it looks like Spring is finally here.  We did have a depressing few days of very cold rain here in Williamsburg last week. I think that we were able to keep our spirits up just a wee bit better than those 90 miles west in Des Moines though. They had a freak May snow, of 4 or 5 inches I think. At least here all we had was rain, and a lot of it. I hate to think how much snow it would have been if we'd been just a degree or two colder.

I went out to Coralville Dam two weekends ago, before the cold weather kicked in again. It was 88 degrees that day. (Two days before it dropped to 30 degrees, but climate change is a hoax..... right......) Anyway, I had been itching to get out and take pictures. I wanted to give my new camera a real workout.

 I walked around up at the top of the dam hoping to be able to look down at the spillway. That didn't work out so well. I ended up driving down to the spillway. I must have spent hours down there. I had so much fun taking picture after picture. Playing with the different settings and seeing just what I could do with it. There is a fossil field that was unearthed during the flood of 1993. It was caused by the emergency spillway being opened and the water cutting through the earth below, dissolving it away. I didn't find any actual fossils, but found some great colors and patterns.

 It turned out that by accident, I had picked a very good day to be there. Pelicans migrate through Iowa yearly, and this day there was quite a flock of them hanging out by the spillway. Most were resting contently in the calm pool of water off to the side of the rushing water coming from the spillway. Others were happily riding the fast waters, turning circles as they were swept down stream. Then would take off in flight and return to the beginning to take the ride again.

The sun was so warm and felt so good walking around that day. We have seen so few sunny days this spring and even fewer warm ones. Spending the day outside with my camera was a treat! Like an ice cold root beer float on a hot, hot summer day. I had started to wonder if the day would ever come.

 The water rushing from the spillway caused foam on the on the surface that glistened and sparkled in the sun. The foam in turn splashed up against the rocks. Much of it swishing under and seeping back to the top in rhythmic fashion. The glittering and glistening appearing and disappearing into cracks and crevices between the freshly washed stones.

I wasn't alone out there enjoying a rare beautiful day. People were walking, talking, listening to music and fishing. It was a very good day.