Signs of Spring?

This morning I felt a certain evidence that spring might yet appear here in Chicago. The morning was bright and I had less trouble waking up than usual. I heard a cardinal singing his heart out. The never ending snow has finally melted except in a few shady spots.
Of course, the grass is still brown--it will be a few more weeks before it starts to green again. My backyard looks more like a swamp than a yard. I'm still missing the robins, white throat sparrows and migrant finches. The trees won't leaf out for at least another month, maybe more. And it will, inevitably, snow on April Fool's Day.
The calendar says spring will be here in less than 3 weeks. The clocks change (spring forward) next weekend. The days get longer and longer. Catalogs and magazines are featuring Easter. College kids will soon be studying for finals. My father is bugging me about our summer plans.



I'm eagerly awaiting snow drops, garden planning, pansies, goldfinches, the dawn chorus, late sunsets, pumping up the bike tires so we can ignore them for another year. In the meantime, I need to get a sweater; I'm cold.