Spring?

Do I dare hope? Out today, there were some very definite signs. Quiet ones - it's still winter quiet here, but soon... I've seen robins, though not flocks of them. There are buds on the trees, but they aren't swelling yet. No grass, but there are large clear areas on the driveway and sidewalks. It's coming. There are stirrings of life against the foundation, though the beds in the lawn have a foot of snow on them. If there's anything going on under there, we won't see it for a while.


Out driving, we noticed the sugarmakers are getting busy. With the snowiest February on record, trudging through 3 feet of white mulch made hanging buckets harder this year. Most big places use pex tubing, running miles of it through the sugar bush to deliver the sap right to the boiler. There have been years when Vermont's Maple Syrup Open House weekend falls right after St. Patrick's Day. This year, it's the weekend after Easter. Pancakes and bacon and this year's new crop of syrup. Yum! Can't wait.

I noticed that while the swamp is still brown grass and frozen water, the Red Wing Blackbirds are beginning to return. Still nothing to sing about, but when the peepers emerge, the Redwings will trill along to welcome them. THEN it will be spring.