Signs of spring

Monday, 4:12 pm

By Kate

Mar

30

2009

It must be spring because what could say spring better than a spring head cold? Hmm? Scuse me while I sniffle and sneeze. I hope this will be of very short duration.

My snow has now mostly melted. There are still clumps of it hanging around, but the warmer temperatures and rain should take care of them shortly. My freshly cleaned windows have rain spots on them again. It looks as if our April showers have started early. The forecast for the rest of the week involves a lot of rain and mild temperatures.

And that, of course, means the weeds have taken off like little rockets. I see many green things poking up out of the garden beds. Nothing else is green yet, but those hardy weeds have an especial zest for life. There is much raking and digging to be done before the season gets fully launched. Winter is hard on things and now that the snow has mostly melted, I look around and think...oh my...there aren’t enough days in a week. So much to be done. Lots of little branches and odds and ends that litter my lawn...there is something to be said for snow. It hides all that stuff and then I forget it’s there waiting for me. The gardens need to be turned and the grass fed and whatnot. I’m not enthused about doing any of this in the pouring rain, but it the rain doesn’t give me a break this week, for a few hours, I’m not going to have much choice. At this point in the season, things will get away from me in a hurry. Like...overnight. Spring has sprung.

And there was a fat robin hopping around in the back yard this morning. She found a couple of juicy worms to yank out of the ground. I’m sure, from her point of view, they were delicious. She made them look like gourmet fare. Kind of made my nose wrinkle up, though.

She was the first robin I’ve seen this year, though I’m sure they’ve been around for a few weeks. Usually they show up in late February and feed voraciously on the sumac fruit, but last year I cut down most of the sumacs on the hill behind the house. They are a messy plant and their seeds sprout much too easily. Once they get a toehold, they’re hard to eradicate. Sorry ‘bout that, robins.

I love watching my robins. They always look so cheerful. I’m glad my yard offers something for them to feed on. I’ll soon have to put the bird bath back out. The robins love splashing around in it every afternoon. I could almost set my clock by their arrival. They take turns and have a heck of a good time. What entertainment!