In a seminar when I was a grad student, the lecturer said "When digging for potatoes, it is not so important to dig like hell as it is to dig where the potatoes are." That has been the guiding principle of my work in science ever since. It is written on the first page of each of my notebooks.

When I saw this in the wee hours of the morning, I thought immediately of Jessye Norman, who was one of the greatest soprano opera singers of the 20th century. Her voice was described as “a grand mansion of sound.”

Such a world exists, if you seek it out.

Here is the current global warming stripe for the US. We are making progress toward renewable energy, but the fossil fuel oligarchy and its minions in the trump regime are doing everything they can to slow the adoption of renewables. They will fail, but every day of delay makes the crisis worse.

This is Gunung Merapi (Fire Mountain) near Yogyakarta, Indonesia from a live camera tonight. The Special Region of Yogyakarta is one of the most fascinating, beautiful places on Earth. I taught at Universitas Gadjah Madah and had the pleasure of climbing Gunung Merapi. I hope it settles down soon.

This is the view from the front porch of my home in Borneo. Now, back in Kentucky, I am thoroughly enjoying a week of rainy days, which should end our spring drought. Do you love rainy days?

People say they are allergic to showy flowers like the black locust on the left. They are looking at the wrong trees. Showy flowers are animal pollinated and their pollen is too large to cause allergies. It is nearby dull flowers like the oak on the right, wind-pollinated, that deserve the blame.

In lieu of paper, I keep a good supply of tea towels for many uses. They would work for this.

Many of my clients are horse farm owners. I’ve never heard a single one express concern about black locust trees on their farms. Notice the second photo in my story.

Good for you! I have several very productive pawpaws in my back yard and am always thrilled when they flower and again when they bear fruit.

This is my favorite spring flower, American sycamore, Platanus occidentalis. It is a bottomland tree in most places, but in the limestone karst of the Bluegrass, it is an abundant upland tree. What is your favorite spring flower?

I love your kid stories. They remind me of mine, like these 3, who are all now in grad school.

Trump is destroying the US Forest Service and firing its employees. This picture appeared in the NY Times today. It appears to show Trump teaching Rubio how to measure tree diameter so he can take over managemnt of our forests.

I should be writing, but it's warm outside and the soil is wet. I'm going to go spread my seed.

Here is an Andrena bee gathering pollen from a bur oak. Pollinator insects are busy as flowering begins. Honeybees get all the attention, but we should know this: There are over 4000 species of native bees busy pollinating; and honeybees are not native to North America, but are imported livestock.

And, of special relevance to me, plants.

It has struck me that the good people of this nation are showing us joy, humor, and art, while the ruling kakistocracy and its rich protectors are grim and miserable. We can help ourselves by being joyful and optimistic, and we will prevail.

Don't you think it is more important to stay safe on the water before drowning?

I just got a delivery that has taken more than two weeks to arrive. I suppose the weather is to blame. The order was for what in my family is known as Vitamin M and for which there is no substitute. The package arrived just in time to prevent serious consequences. Now for some vegan pancakes.

I begin my days with 4 cups of very good coffee. There is no doubt any more that coffee is a health drink. The challenge is to find ethically produced coffee. There are coffee roasters who buy directly from the producers, who are assured of a fair price. I like Little Waves, but there are others.

While we wait for the trees to start their spring burst of growth, it is worth looking at winter details. The intricacy of the bark of this Kentucky coffeetree, Gymnocladus dioicus, is worthy of study, as is the bark of most trees. The coffeetree twig, stout with tiny buds, is very unusual.

West of here.

In winter, when deciduous trees are bare, we can really appreciate the form of a tree. Here is a chinkapin oak, Quercus muehlenbergii, on a ridgetop in Nashville. It is now surrounded by young forest, but you can tell by its branch pattern that it grew in an open woodland pasture.

Like many of you, I like to give my favorite trees names. This is Eileen. This oak is stable, but in karst topography, the underlying rock is not. As the rock shifts and sinkholes open, an old tree has to adjust it roots. You can see by the changing branch angles that this is a slow change.

I'm not pining for Spring. Yet. I do want to hang out with my bison friends soon. American bison, Bos bison bison, were abundant in the Bluegrass in ancient times. They, helped by drought, created the woodland pasture habitat that makes the Bluegrass landscape distinct.

Of course, some of us have an ulterior motive for studying sap flow in trees.

It is still winter but many trees have already had their dormancy requirements met. On slightly warm sunny days, trees can absorb enough heat to stimulate sap flow. This cut maple branch dripped a lot of very sweet sap. Delicious. More to come on this important topic.

One of the reasons that trees are the longest-lived organisms is their remarkable ability to rebuild after stress or injury. This bur oak, growing in a woodland pasture, was struck by lightning more than 50 years ago. It has built a new crown and is growing with vigor.

My friend Kate Armstrong, @brainchain.ca, asked us to post pictures of roses, #PostMoreRoses, but in my catalog of over 200,000 botanical photos, there is not a single one of a rose. If we broaden to the family Rosaceae, we have this nice pear flower in the rain.

In nature, an organism may be both beautiful and terrifying. Take this sparkling emerald ash borer, Agrilus planipennis. The adults are ready to emerge in spring to wreak havoc on ash trees. More terrifying than a king cobra, but that is a story for next week.