Spring at Noxubee National Wildlife Refuge

Saturday was such an incredibly beautiful day that we had to get outside for the afternoon. We decided to head down to Noxubee to see what it looks like in the spring time. So far there isn't much growing, but it was still really pretty. The trees here have just barely started leafing out, but any fruit trees around here have been blooming for a week or two now and are so pretty. There are Asian Pear trees (I believe that's what Ethan said they're called) all over town that are just covered in blossoms and they make me think of a certain primary song every time I see them.

I looked out the window and what did I see...

When we got to Noxubee we were amazed at the difference in the water levels from the first time we were here. There's a small stream that you cross over right after you get on the refuge that was just a trickle the first time we were there. This weekend it was bigger than most of the rivers I grew up around. We stopped by the boardwalk that we took our first time there, and here are some pictures from both this visit and our very first visit.

The swamp this weekend.

The swamp in August.

Submerged log this weekend.

Unsubmerged log in August. Notice that the water level is high enough for this to have moved several feet. The tree in the bottom left corner in this picture is the one near the middle of the log in the picture from this weekend.

One of my favorite things I've seen around here this spring is the Red Bud tree. It grows wild out in the woods around here, and is so pretty! It just pops out at you from among the bare brown branches when you least expect to see anything pretty. While there are some of these growing in people's yards, most of them are just out in the woods. I love them!

Once we'd finished sitting on the boardwalk looking at the swamp and the lake, we headed over to the picnic area to have some dinner. We threw a blanket out on the ground, fired up our Volcano Grill, and just enjoyed the afternoon. Erik was loving getting to be outside. He was fascinated by everything going on around us, especially the cars driving by.

Somehow we made it down there with only one plastic fork between the two of us, and it was too wimpy to cut our pork steaks anyways, so we ended up just eating caveman style. We both got a kick out of it though. The very first cook-out we did after we moved to Idaho the same thing happened, so we thought this ended up being perfect. Apparently it's now a tradition to have no flatware for our inaugural cook-out when we move somewhere new.

Did you notice what Erik chose to eat for his dinner?

 

After we finished eating, we just hung out there on our blanket and watched the sunset over Bluff lake. It was a perfect afternoon.