Spring Has Sprung?

One day there is snow, and we are pottering around in boots and winter gear. The next day, we are clad in capris, short sleeves, and sandals. Temperatures are well above freezing, skies are blue, and dazzling sunlight turns everything in sight golden.

Starlings are donning their summer plumage, and a pair of crows is building a nest in the big pine behind the little blue house. At intervals, the birds take a break from flying in and out of the old tree with nesting materials, sing their pleasure in the season, preen each other, do a little dancing and execute brief "flurry flights" over their territory.

My garlic is poking tender green nubbins out of the earth, and the mojito mint is already sending up tendrils, ditto the English lavender, lemon balm and sage. I spent an hour or so working in the veggie patch yesterday, and I did it in short sleeves. Beau spent the afternoon on the sun deck toasting his tummy.

When the first purple crocus buds appeared in my neighbor's garden a few days ago, I felt like kneeling down and kissing them. Given the damp and my elderly knees, that probably would not have been a good idea, but I considered it, albeit briefly.

Hallelujah! Maybe, just maybe, spring has sprung.