Bring On the Light

My few snowdrops are out, an early sign that spring is just around the corner. And my daffodils are pushing up from the ground, the green stalks showing a slight bulge where the flower will emerge. The grape hyacinths are also flowering, but the rabbits like them so much that they’ve mowed them down every time they dare to show a flower.

Spring is coming despite the snow flurries of yesterday, which are just a blip in our inexorable march into warm weather and crocuses. The days are getting longer – we no longer need a flashlight to take the dog out after breakfast and dinner.

Spring is often about hope. Like the thing with feathers as per Emily Dickinson. It’s the type of hope that dreams of warmer and sunnier days ahead. About renewal and fragile beauty. The early flowers so delicate and tender – even a mild frost makes them droop a little in the cold. It’s a reminder that the long dark of winter is coming to an end. We hope that this will be a good year, like waking up from a deep sleep and feeling like it’s going to be a good day.

While we haven’t had enough snow this winter (35% of normal on the Island), I’m also not sure we’ve had enough rain to fill our groundwater reservoirs. We had so many days of sun and frost that would normally be wet and cool. It’s been a relatively warm winter though, with mildew and moss proliferating around our driveway, on the deck, and in the yard.

The snowdrops I see most regularly brighten up the roadside with their pale white flowers and crisp green leaves. Every year they’re unexpected, a welcome reminder that the seasons are changing. I know it’s not officially spring until March 20^th, but the amazing thing is that spring flowers come without our coaxing or hoping. And we are bowled over every time.  

Soon the frogs will start singing in the marsh—usually they start in March but I’ve heard the odd one already. The chorus will swell into April and May—last year they sang well into June. And the birds are coming back—Dave counted 12 the other morning on his Merlin app, and I’ve seen them filling the trees and pecking at the moss in the grass. We left the walnut, maple, and oak leaves on the ground in the fall and the birds are loving poking around them and getting at whatever grubs are underneath.

I’m happy to see the signs of spring. It has been a dark winter, and I’m enjoying the return of the light, flowers, and birds. All too soon it will be hot and dry and we’ll be hoping for rain that never comes.