Bitter Cold, Snow, Grandchildren and a Library

Woke up this Groundhog day and it was 1 degree Fahrenheit and snowing. I had two of the grand babies so we headed for the library to find something to keep us busy for the day. After they got a dinosaur book and a Judy Moody movie  I picked up a new book to read; A Supremely Bad Idea: Three Mad Birders and Their Quest to See It All by Luke Dempsey. 
         I still refuse to become obsessed with birding even as I spent half the day with binoculars watching the feeders for Red Polls and Pine Siskins; two far north Finches that have been seen further south this year. I believe I enjoy the genre as much as anything; a combination of nature, travel, culture, adventure and wit. That genre includes several books I have read recently:
The Big Year, by Mark Obmascik 
The Orchid Thief by Susan Orlean
The Bluebird Effect: Uncommon Bonds with Common Birds by Julie Zickefoose 
Into Thick Air: Biking to the Bellybutton of Six Continents by Jim Malusa
And many fly fishing books by John Gierach, M.R. Montgomery and James Prosek.  I've also added to my wish list Orchid Fever: A Horticultural Tale of Love, Lust, and Lunacy by Eric Hansen and The Scent of Scandal: Greed, Betrayal, and the World's Most Beautiful Orchid by Craig Pittman.
         I also spent a little while reviewing February pictures from the last eight years in Picasa, the photo organizer I use. I had convinced myself that I should see some wildflowers before February is over, but I could only find pictures of snow, ice storms and occasionally, a crocus. 
So, I leave you with one of my favorite waterfall pictures. I took it last year during winter runoff at Brush Creek Preserve and it hangs in my office and is the desktop on my computer and iPad. 
That March day was great;  I found three Trillium, one was new for me,Trillium sulcatum (furrowed wakerobin). So I am looking forward to March, which I can now say is just a month away. 

What is the Big Year?

I just finished reading The Big Year, by Mark Obmascik and The Orchid Thief by Susan Orlean. The Big Year is a book about a yearly contest for birders who travel their county, state, nation or world trying to see as many birds as possible. The Orchid Thief is an account of the obsession for orchids and the extremes people exhibit to posses them; by purchase, propagation or theft.
         The combination has inspired me (maybe) to have  'a big year' for West Virginia wildflowers. Beginning January 1, 2013, I will seek, photograph and record every native or common WV wildflower that I can find. This blog is only a way for me to keep up with what I find; if anyone else finds in interesting, I will be the most surprised. Knowing my own past record, it is entirely likely that I will never record another thing here. But maybe I will.
        I am obsessed with wildflowers, especially Trillium's and Orchids which are both fickle and may choose this year not to show themselves. For instance; Large Pad Leaf Orchids have not appeared in two years at known locations. I will make several trips and record what I find. I will not reveal the location of sensitive habitat. I only know the location of a dozen or so rare wildflowers because of hours and hours of reading and gleaning info from websites, journals and research papers. I will also be recording many common flowers from ditches and yards; as long as they are native or common to the state. For instance, my first flower should be dandelions in January, if the snow is gone. It is an introduced flower but is as common as weeds. I am going for numbers; a couple hundred maybe. Maybe by then I will have forgotten the whole thing and just do what I have done for years; enjoy flowers where ever they lead me.