Quick! Get a magnifying glass

I'm not one for superstitions or for that matter one who necessarily believes in old wives tales but I always believe the Groundhog. That little furry bucktoothed squirrel is never wrong when it comes to winter and when it is going to end. However, I do believe the end is near. It was so nice in Boston today, I didn't even need to wear a coat when I hauled the garbage to the curb. I saw my first robin this morning and the geese were honking on their way to Fresh Pond this afternoon and since I was out in the front yard, I decided to go in search of my elusive spring bulbs still somewhat buried under a snowbank.

You see, I have flower envy. For the past three weeks I've been listening to MBH's mother tell me how gorgeous her early crocus are and how the early tulips are starting to poke their tips through her front yard and how the neighbor's tree is budding . MBH's folks live in Youcan'tgettherefromhere, TN and if you stand on their back patio you can throw a rock into the Appilachian Mountains so their growing season comes much earlier than ours. I keep wanting to tell her, "Of course your bulbs are popping. You live in the South!" but I don't because I adore MBH's parents and I accept that even though the package for the crocus I planted last fall said "late Feb/early March" for my region that really means "late March/early April". But yesterday while we walking to Harvard Square, I noticed my neighbor's bulbs were poking their way through the dirt. So tonight, I got on my knees and gently brushed the snow from where I planted my crocus, daffodils, and tulips to see if maybe, just maybe, spring was really and truly on it's way.

And you know what? Right there, under the last crusty bit of snow were little shoots of green where my purple and blue crocus will be. I could see where the dirt was starting break on top my yellow and orange tulips. I even think I saw the tip of an early daffodil. I sat back, looked down the street, watched the kids get off the bus without their coats on, listened to the birds in the tree across the street and breathed in the smell of spring. Yup, spring has sprung and it is about time...