At the Duck Pond, Early March

It's spring break week at Penn State, which means that campus is deserted and the buses are running less frequently than usual. The first item means that campus is just amazing for photos right now - look, hardly any people!

The second item only matters if you are a bus rider, as I was on this day. There's more time between buses now, so plan accordingly. Items one plus two = more photo time for me!

The northeastern U.S. was bracing for a big storm on this day, and plenty of states east and north of us got nailed. However, central Pennsylvania escaped relatively unscathed.

There was merely a dusting of snow on the ground Wednesday morning. And while it snowed like crazy off and on for a few hours, temperatures were warm enough that "it didn't stick," as we like to say.

We did get a little more snow outside of town where I live - we pretty much always do. But by afternoon, the snow had turned to rain in town, and there was no accumulation. Overall, the big storm was a bust here, for better or worse; you don't always know whether to be disappointed or relieved.

In the morning, with just a skiff of snow on the ground, I visited the duck pond and the alumni center gardens. There were yellow bushes in bloom, and they were stunning. I immediately assumed they were forsythia, but I was wrong. It turns out they are witch hazel. So that is the yellow you see in this shot.

There's the pretty little gazebo in the background. There wasn't enough snow for anyone to build a snowman inside it, like that one time I was there. A bit further away (outside of this scene but nearby), the stone children appeared to be playing in what little snow they had available.

Three colorful male mallards had been enjoying themselves on the water, and as I watched, they formed a neat line and sailed across the pond right in front of the gazebo. Ah, nice job, guys! And . . . there's the shot. :-)

In honor of the golden bushes, I've picked a song about gold. Here is the title track from Dire Straits' 1982 album Love Over Gold.