I’m not just being optimistic. Temps have risen above freezing over the last few days, and this morning at 8:30 it is already 35 degrees.

Out in nature, Spring’s arrival touches all the senses. The once knee-deep snow is now to just inches, with many brown patches and green stains of grass; animals are about today, first the birds—flying squawking swooping calling reporting pecking colorful lively (red-tail hawks are dive bombing the brush for fresh meat … can you taste that rodent?), then squirrels scurrying through the brush and into the trees, and the deer travel in gangs (with established pecking orders, I’ve noticed).

All are hungry, and while the bounty of Spring is not yet shown to humans, Earth’s creatures are doing just fine. There’s a smell to this not-quite-calendar Spring. It’s fresh, buoyant, the earth is undernose now. The sun warms the skin; I stood outside on the deck, feeling sunrays pull at the hairs on my arms (I doubt if Floridians can stand 35 degrees in t-shirt and sweat pants, but it feels damned skippy to me).

Later, to fill out the senses that I allude to, I’m going to go lick tree bark. I’ll get back to you on that.