It's Green

Each day is taking me farther away from Winter's cold grip.

Winter was fun when I was much younger, when a heavy snowfall meant "No School!"

It didn't mean having to shovel out a long driveway to get to a job that was totally oblivious to all the area's snow cancellations.

Nor did it mean wearing ~ inside the house ~ 2 pairs of PJ bottoms on top of a pair of long johns, 3 sweat shirts (2 with hoods), shearing-lined boots, and a pair of fingerless gloves when the heat was turned off after the pipes burst on a Sunday in January.

Unlike the two winters before, where we needed a front-end loader to dig us out ~ we have been blessed with a mild winter this year.

It may have snowed twice. And even then, I had been able to get away without doing any shovelling.

Most of the time it rained ~ a raw and cold, yucky New England rain.

Still, I didn't have to shovel it.

That was the one good thing about the rain ~ especially when it came down in such heavy amounts that had it been snow, we would have been buried for a week.

Those days are now past.

And even though the threat of frost is not gone until Memorial Day, it's green!

The trees and shrubs are a green explosion!

Not only that, flowers are blooming everywhere.

The bleeding heart that I planted last summer is now over three times the height it was last year. And it's still growing! Not only that, it is already covered in tons of pendulous blossoms.

The tulips are out. So is the over-abundance of grape hyacinths, azaleas, flowering cherries, daffodils, and the ever-present dandelions.

Soon the lilacs and wisteria will follow.



Then the air will be heavy with rich fragrance.

Soon I'll be able to open the windows and breathe in the fresh scent of the outdoors instead of the stale smell of cat boxes that are not cleaned as often as they should be.

Already I hear the sound of spring peepers at night.

Already the starlings have returned to nest in the no-longer-used dryer vent above our first floor bathroom.

Songbirds have been returning as well, each morning lending their new voices to the choir that greets the new day.

Soon the robins, chickadees, cardinals, and blue jays will be accompanied by yellow finches and Baltimore orioles.

Soon the mockingbird will sing his song in the middle of the night.

Oh!

The time of year that I have been awaiting will very soon be upon us!

Soon I'll be sitting on the front ~ wisteria-covered ~ porch in shorts and a tank top with a cold brew by my side.

I'll be listening to the loud music from passing cars and smelling the mouth-watering aromas from the neighbors' grills.

Those tempting and seducing smells!

They're making me remember...