Welcome Spring!

My calendar states the first day of spring is March 20th. but my spring started on February 14th. I like to think of Valentine's Day as the gateway to spring. I know we'll still have cold snaps and possibly another snowfall but we've had those after the official spring date too. So I don't let that bother me. Valentine's Day usually brings more seasonal temperatures and that subtle change in the temps seems to shake mother nature out of her slumber. Buttercups start emerging, the sun seems to peek through the trees at a slightly different angle and even the song of the birds seems cheerier. Most years we just get easy in our minds that spring is here and then summer lands in our laps and we feel like we had only just got a glimpse of spring. This way I get a longer spring. My mood improves much earlier than in previous years and I appreciate this transitional time a little more. In a sense I get to take charge of my life, instead of waiting for my calendar to declare when I can come out of hibernation.

For, lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone;
The flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing of birds is come, and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land; Song of Solomon 2: 11-12