winter soldiers on ( sort of )

winter isn't what it was...the reason why is debated and denied...i am convinced...those with other opinions can think what they wish...i will continue to educate myself while they disagree...the forage wheat grass on campus is dormant...the wheat grass domesticate from kansas are not...the winter wheat in the field next to the supermarket isn't dormant either...in the past week the temperatures have been as high as the fifties with rain...then it snowed ( as a sidelight the palmer drought indices have lifted my home county out of "moderate drought" and put it in "abnormally dry") and today it is above freezing again and the snow is melting...temperatures are forecast to be above freezing during the day ( high thirties and low forties ) and hovering around or just below freezing at night...the sort of weather that stimulates sugar maple sap to start running... but around here that traditionally happened in march ( along with the frost law weight limits on local roads...potholes galore ) not february...i will have to check out john woods county park where there is "maple syrup time " each year, to see if it comes early this year...whatever the cause the climate is changing and probably not for the better in the short term...native plants will be having difficulty adjusting and new species will be migrating in supplanting them...the hardiness zone has already changed here and i don't look for the northward migration of climate ( or migration of species to higher elevations ) to stop in my lifetime...i will be watching native plants closely and experimenting with some that should not really overwinter here ( an experience i've already had with perennial teosinte that overwintered here last year...a sub-tropical grass that should not have survived ) looking for something empirical to write about.