I can feel Spring coming

I'm smelling anticipation in the air this morning. I'm hearing birdsong increasing daily, and even a stray peeper frog piped down at the pond last evening. It feels like the earth is gathering itself up, getting ready to burst forth in greenery any minute.

I was never enchanted with Spring when we lived in New York--a grim, schizophrenic season of rain, mud, ice, fog, gloom and false hope, lurching from freak snowstorms to summer heat and back again, gardeners wary and suspicious all the way up until Memorial Day. Not my favorite time of year there.

Here, it's a kinder, gentler and much longer season that brings delight and discovery with each passing day. There's a progressive rhythm to it, which I'm still figuring out. The wildflowers each have their days in order, the flowering trees like dogwoods and redbuds bloom and linger. Then, the blackberries and raspberries that grow wild all over the place will provide snacks on our daily hikes instead of just annoying thorns to catch clothing and prick fingers and ankles.

That it's starting today is most likely imagined, simply because I want it to be. We have had snow well into March before, and I doubt that Winter will loosen its hold without a last bit of struggle. But the faith that it will soon come is real, and I'm ready.