Spring is the best time to hike in the mountains. Here’s a Shagbark hickory coming to life on a rainy, cold day.

New leaves are unfolding on a tree branch in a forest with bare trees in the background.

Did some hiking this evening and a few casts in a small, spring-fed creek that’s home to some small, spring-fed brook trout. Glad we still have brookies in Frederick County, Maryland — and just look at how clear that water is.

A mountain stream called Clifford Branch, Catoctin Mountains, Frederick County, Maryland

The frogs are announcing that spring has arrived to the mountains north of Frederick, Maryland. What a racket.

How do we reconcile this: MIT-led study confirming that the ozone layer is healing

With this: Satellites burning up in the atmosphere may deplete the Earth’s ozone layer

I’m looking forward to the Murderbot adaptation, but what I’d like to see even more is a Locke Lamora adaptation.