Spring Sparkles

We received a text from second son, Alex, early this morning. He told us that the snow was well down on the Richmond Ranges and the Mount Arthur region. He wondered how the Richmonds had fared here in Marlborough. When I went out with the dogs I noted that little snow had fallen on our local ranges. However the wind was bitingly cold…. Just freezing.
Later I checked out the “Web Cam” at St Arnaud at Lake Rotoiti. There was snow on the ground around the lake…. Amazing for October. For those who are interested, look up “Tasman District Council” on the internet and the St Arnaud web cam is easy to find from there.
Downtown the “Artisans’ Market” has started its summer season this morning. I visited it to buy fresh asparagus and to catch up with a few of the stallholders. They were all decked out in multiple layers of clothing to keep out the cold despite bright sunshine.
I drove to the Taylor Dam hoping it would be sheltered there but the wind was unrelenting and was casting ripples on the lake. However that resulted in dancing sparkles of light on the water depending on one’s viewpoint. The bulrushes around the edge of the lake are starting to put out their nice verdant spring growth and all was so fresh and green.