Spring is coming!

It was a beautiful day today, so I gave in to temptation and went to visit the Naugatuck State Forest, my primary local haunt.  And I am so very glad I did, because I saw my first real sign of the year that Spring is on its way.  The snow and ice are melting, yes, and the days are getting longer, but also... things are growing!  Not only growing, but flowering, too!  I'm eager for Spring to arrive, and so I welcome the appearance of the humble Skunk Cabbage:

I learned recently that Skunk Cabbages are one of the few plants that actually generate their own heat -- how cool is that?  That's how they're able to push their way up through the still-just-barely-thawing ground before any other plant has even thought about opening a bud.  And that motley brown-yellow-green thing in the picture is the Skunk Cabbage's flower.  It's stinky (hence the name) so that flies and other bugs will come pollinate it, but I didn't get close enough to smell this flower -- I'll just have to take its word for it, and I'll leave it to the bugs to really check it out.

So there you have it.  Spring is making its way into Connecticut.  It's going to be a great year. :D