A Sure Sign

Today it's snowing again. We are way above average in the white stuff. And even though it's not yet March, I can "feel" spring.

The first tangible sign came today. Out waiting on my precious pup to decide if she wants to "go" or not, it was not dawn yet, but out of the gloom came the voice of the Cardinal. Very, very distinctive. I know it very well. This has long been my favorite bird. One of those tough ones that sticks it out with the rest of us through the long winter. Robins by comparison, are wimps. How the heck did they become the state bird? Nominated by a democrat, no doubt. They scare so easy!



Anyway, this was no ordinary chirping, but a song about establishing territory and well,....you know.

An odd thing to hear with the snow falling so robustly. But that's the way the seasons change around these parts. There are other things more subtle. I think it has to do with lengthening light, or maybe even the angle of it, as the sun is already a third of the way to it's northern apex. Things like that; driving some internal clock which tells us. Yes, we might need a calendar to give us the exact day, but we could come darn close to picking the week of the year without one.

I don't mind winter all that much, but I like spring better. So does the Cardinal if you listen to him.