ditch flower, Catskills

In the country this weekend, the only flowers I saw were these little yellow ones (hawkweed?) growing alongside the ditch. Todd, who's lived there his entire life and grew up on a farm, says it's the latest spring in memory.

It was sunny and warm, though there were still some chunks of ice, and I could almost hear the buds and sprouts forming. I read The Hobbit, and could imagine Bilbo Baggins, who "wished to see great mountains, and hear the pine trees and the waterfalls, and explore the caves, and wear a sword instead of a walking stick" dropping by for tea between goblin and elf adventures.