An early Spring is rarely imagined and less often realized at the turn of the year. Yet today with the temperature cresting in the low 60s that is exactly what we have. I remove my bike from the shed and with an extra layer of clothing head off for the Titicus Reservoir, which supplies NYC with drinking water.
The sun is high and I feel its warmth all over my body as I pedal on lightly traveled roads. The effects of the warming weather are apparent: willows are bright green in the distance, early (though now false) harbingers of Spring. First greens such as garlic mustard have perked up, ready to pull as a weed or add to tonight’s salad. A few bulbs are poking their shoots out and the butterfly bush is adding new leaves.
On my way, I think I hear spring peepers in the distance, but I am sure I must be mistaken. Approaching the reservoir, I am hit with an icy breeze off the partially frozen water. A fog rolls off thin plates of floating ice. Stopping at the earthen dam holding back the water, a cold fog seeps through and tumbles over the spillway, piling up. In a sheltered cove, a lone mallard swims about and it is time I head back for home.
