Kay Wade
February Firsts
Mild air temperatures—the first of 2026—stopped by for a brief visit during this second half of February, and nature is celebrating! First bloom (for me) is a single, hot pink phlox flower on a ditch bank, closely followed by fat yellow buds unfolding on neighborhood daffodils. Red maples show off their first blush of color; wood violets offer a splash of cobalt to an otherwise winter-brown landscape. On Lake Jocassee we watch the first Eastern tiger swallowtail butterfly flitter by; loons roll to their backs and pull out itchy winter feathers; turtles sun on a log that has fallen to lake’s edge; Toxaway River’s bald eagles are on their nest; flocks of ducks gyrate over the cold, clear water. Cold weather won’t give up, not yet, but spring will not be denied. ~K