Signs of Spring

Rob befriending earthworms

Rain, rain, rain! But the sun is predicted to return by the first day of spring, (next week...yea!) and the signs are all around us. Cherries in bloom, the first daffodils, rhubarb’s crinkled leaves unfolding from pale green knobs. I’ve even seen a few lethargic flies that managed to survive the winter while tucked away in dark crevices.

Long ago, another wet winter was dragging to an end. Robbie had just turned three. He was bursting with energy and kept me busy thinking up ways to keep him busy. One day as we drove to town he seemed particularly squirmy. “Let’s watch for signs of spring,” I suggested.

He was still for a minute, peering out the window. Then, “I see one! I see one!” he shouted. I pulled up at an intersection and looked around, wondering what he’d seen. 

Of course. There it stood in all its glory...a bright red Stop sign!

...Can Spring be Far Behind

If winter comes, can spring be far behind?

     Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792-1822)

 

We're back to winter this week. The blooming crocuses are buried, the daffodils are budded but shivering, and a couple of sparrows are huddled under the bird feeder trying to keep warm. We're inside a swirling snow globe looking out.

 

But after all, it is only February, the most coy and vacillating month here in the Puget Sound area. By next week the air may be balmy, with impatient flowers once again heralding spring.

It was 15 degrees on our back porch yesterday, and Popcorn wanted in, NOW!

Flowering currant blooms first in our yard. The hummingbirds love it.