Frontiers

We've had the most wonderful morning on Öland today. Blazing sun from a cloudless sky, no wind at all, the air is crisp and it's 7 degrees warm but more in the sun.
At least five song larks was hanging above me in the sky, establishing their territory by constant singing. I don't know how they decide among themselves who gets which bit of sky to sing in, there seems to be no aerial fights or any signs of bad temper, just song and peace, like a music festival. 

I took a walk through one of the small groves around here. This time of year the blue anemones are awakening. This morning it was still a bit cold so I didn't see any of them, they budded up to protect themselves I suppose. 

I met an elderly couple who told me they've already seen them around for at least a week. The man was carrying an axe and a saw and they told me to take care when walking here because of the disease spreading to the Ash trees. It gets worse every year and the part around where I live is badly hit. It's an airborne disease, spread by fungus and there's nothing you can do about it, except hoping that some trees develop an immunity against the spores. When a tree gets infected its roots are affected in a way that makes them rot so the tree slowly dies because it can't gather water, and eventually it just falls because there are no longer anything to support the tree. I will remember to make a blip of the root of one of the fallen trees, it's just a small clump, hardly wider than the trunk. There doesn't even have to be any wind, they just fall without warning and they are very heavy. That's why they warned me and asked me to be careful. I appreciate that.

I walked along one of the small brooks that runs through the grove and couldn't resist these motifs. It made me think of winters last frontier against spring, it certainly felt like that today. I was quite proud of my photos and give you two of the best.