Is it spring yet?

It has been a long winter.  I think that they get longer every year.  I am sick of it. 

Today, it was sunny and almost 50 F.  For us, that seemed warm. How tragic.  Most places would see that as cool, even cold.  Of course, there is still about 9 inches of snow on the ground.  It keeps things cooler. 

There is a little bit of brown grass and mud sticking out of the snow in patches and around the edges.  The birds are getting a little more active.  The swans are still here.  They will be leaving soon.  The curbs will soon be reappearing on either side of the streets.  Water is starting to run off roofs and along the gutters  There is hope for spring.

Once it really is spring, there is a smell to the world that is unique to spring in the north.  The mud has an aroma.  Trees that are coming back to life, and grass that is starting to sprout all have a smell.  Fresh, earthy, life.

We are seriously discussing moving to someplace warmer year-round.  Would I miss this part of living in the frozen hell that is the northern U.S.?  I think it would always be in my mind.  I would always be able to remember it.  I might miss it, especially at first.  But, I think I would miss it less than I miss the green in the winter.  I just get to the point that I have to see green.  Green growing things, and things with flowers.  I crave them, I need them for my soul.  I need that more than I enjoy the spring smells.

But, I will still enjoy them this spring.  It is the hope of spring coming that gets me through this time of year.  March and November are almost interchangeable around here.  If you were an alien, and landed here in March or November, you would be hard pressed to tell the difference.  Both are brown, cold, desolate.  The only difference for those of us who live here, is in March, we have hope that May will eventually be here.  It is nearly spring!

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