Thursday night found me out and about at a late hour, fetching Katie after a school trip to Winterplace. She earned this trip by making the honor roll and basically being a good kid. Thursday's high was 72°, making it the warmest day of the year so far. Winterplace still had plenty of snow on the ground for tubing, though, and Katie reported it was a great success. This was her second trip to Winterplace this year. I like that her school rewards performance like this... I don't remember there being anything like that when I was her age.
I had my windows partially rolled down on my way to pick her up. It's a simple pleasure to do this when the weather starts getting better in the early spring, and I look forward to it every year. And as I drove through the light rain, I heard the familiar sound of spring's first frogs in the ditches and culverts at the side of the road. I love that sound. There was a pond across the street when I was growing up, and every spring, it was full of frogs — a vernal and perennial chorus to help shake off winter's funk. I tried to share the frogs' songs with Katie on our drive back home, but I don't think she was impressed.
Over the last few days, the crocuses have popped out of the ground. This is
another sign of spring I look forward to. Several years ago I planted a mixture
of yellow, white, and purple crocus corms in several places in the front yard.
The purple ones are the only ones really making a go at it anymore, so there are
bunches of little purple flowers scattered here and there. They usually only
last a week or two. Next come the forsythias, which will probably start this
week or next, and then the redbuds, which will probably appear toward the end of
the month. By the time April rolls around, lots of things will be in bloom.
And this reminds me: I need to start some tomato seeds soon.
Time "sprang forward" as we slept last night, which means the next few days will be challenging as we adjust to Daylight Saving Time all over again. I don't mind the extra daylight in the evening, but getting up an hour earlier sucks... it always has. But, it's yet another sign of spring, so I'll take it.
And even though it's cloudy and cool now, and it's going to rain off and on over the next 24 hours, I'll say this: it beats the hell out of snow.