A week of the thaw in photographs. Each plate carries its own coordinates.
Six mornings in early May along Beargrass Creek. One plate per day, one half-inch at a time. The water kept dropping, the juncos kept arriving, and the willows kept their quiet argument.
Plate 1: First light, south bank
Plate 1The first morning, before the juncos. Frost still on the lower branches.
48.3711° N / 114.1792° W
Plate 2a: Willow root
Plate 2b: Stone crossing
Plate 2Two readings of the same half-inch. Root on the left, stone on the right.
48.3711° N / 114.1792° W
Plate 3: Bridge conversation
Plate 3The neighbor on the bridge. The creek below, and two men who agreed it was doing two things at once.
48.3711° N / 114.1792° W
Plate 4: Juncos in the grass
Plate 4The juncos arrived on the fourth morning and the grass was already warm enough.
48.3711° N / 114.1792° W
Plate 5a: Catkins
Plate 5b: Low water
Plate 5Last year's catkins still clinging. The water a full inch lower than the first plate.
48.3711° N / 114.1792° W
Plate 6: The sixth morning
Plate 6The sixth morning. The ice all the way gone, the willows standing in air.
48.3711° N / 114.1792° W
Fin.
Photographs and text by Mark Ulett. Taken on foot, between dawn and the second cup of coffee, along a half mile of Beargrass Creek.