It's Spring! (With trust issues).

20 Apr, 2026

I was making some notes for this blog about sharing the pretty little things in nature, and I wrote “it’s spring yay!” My initial notes are usually just a list of short sentences or random words. Generally, whatever comes to mind in the moment. For a new writer like me, that approach works wonders. It makes writing feel less stressful and more natural. Anyways, the next thing I wrote was: “Today was cold with a freeze warning” (it’s late April, by the way).

I live in Michigan, which is one of the most beautiful places, but we also have extreme weather fluctuations. Spring here sometimes feels like it has trust issues. One day it’s warm and hopeful, and the next it’s suddenly cold again. See the Google overview of Michigan weather for more context:

"Michigan weather is famously fickle, often shifting from cold snow or rain to warm sun in just hours due to the clashing of warm, moist air from the south with cold Canadian air, all influenced by the Great Lakes."

I was traveling in the northeastern United States not too long ago and noticed how far ahead spring seemed there. Trees were already full of leaves and wildflowers were blooming everywhere, while back in Michigan, trees were only just beginning to grow new leaves. While traveling, I caught sight of a faint rainbow stretching across the gray sky, giving shape and softness to the usual landscape. I captured one of the most beautiful landscape photos in my collection, which shows a small herd of cows grazing in a sunlit field, with mountains rising quietly in the distance behind them. As I write this now, Michigan also has dandelions and fresh green grass starting to fill the fields, though. It is really nice to see!

This kind of weather pattern sometimes makes it harder for seasonal depression to fully lift in spring. One day it feels like you can finally do everything like go for a walk, run outside, paint, play tennis, and then the next day it’s chilly or stormy again, and you just want to stay in bed all morning.

But even then, spring still shows up in small ways. There are birds everywhere again, filling quiet mornings with sound. Grass turns lush and bright instead of dull and dry. Dandelions spread across empty fields like small bursts of light. Trees begin to bud with soft light-green leaves, and blossoms slowly open like they’re testing the air. And there are also these small sensory moments that make spring feel real even on the colder days like the smell of wet soil after rain, the sound of wind shifting suddenly between warm and cold, and the way sunlight can feel completely different depending on the hour.

I went for a walk the other day. It was drizzling and slightly cold, but still really refreshing. I noticed some small mushrooms and captured a few photos. I believe they are inky cap mushrooms (Coprinopsis atramentaria) or something similar.

I really love going on walks! One of my favorite things to do is watch birds. Some of these tiny birds have completed incredible migrations for the season and returned home. It always makes me wonder how something so small can travel across continents, survive harsh conditions, and still manage to build the coziest nests for their babies.

I captured some robins and a cardinal going about their day. They were just moving around like usual, nothing special, just part of the day. The Robin on the tree kept looking in my direction like it had questions for me. I started wondering if birds find us a bit suspicious when we just stand there staring at them, like, “what is this human doing and why isn’t it moving?”. I didn’t want the robin to report me to the bird police for suspicious loitering, so I just kept walking 😂.