Spring Is in the Air

At my Geauga County home, 6 to 12 inches of glazed snow still cover the ground despite 50+ temperatures. Only heavy rain will melt all of this snow. Amazingly, a few areas of green grass have peeked out from under the blanket of white--a promise of things to come.

The days are considerably longer than the dark days of late December. What's really amazing is the increase in bird song in the morning. And the solid gigantic ice sheet that covered 10,000 square miles of Lake Erie as recently as last week is shrinking. I'm expecting to hear the annual stories of ice fishermen stranded on ice flows and Cost Guard rescues!

It even smells different outside today. There's an earthy smell, not the blank smell of dead winter. And there's even a bit of color in the trees and shrubs. The willows are turning a yellow color; the red-twig dogwood are really red; the silver maple buds are just swelling and bursting into a strange early flowering. Holy Toledo!

Spring is a-comin'!