Spring Fever

It's that time of year - when the weather turns warmer for a couple of days between snow storms and you start noticing the signs that spring is really on it's way. I love this time of year. Some years I really start to get "cabin fever" and cannot wait for spring to show up with all the new buds and daffodils and tulips and babies...but this year is different. I am excited that spring is coming. I see the signs everywhere: the grass is turning green underneath the snow, the trees are budding. But I do not feel impatient for full blown spring; I am willing to savor the slow changing from winter to spring.

We have had more of an actual winter here this year than we've had in many years, and I've really enjoyed it. It's been nice to see snow covering my lawn for weeks instead of a day. It reminds me of the winters we had when I was a kid where there was enough snow to build snow forts and tunnels and you could pretend to cross-country ski to the neighbors. I loved those winters, even when there was so much snow we had to dig out the front door and the neighbors would get together to dig out the roads. (I grew up in the country where side roads are not always plowed or even maintained at all.) And in reality, here in Colorado, we are in what is historically the snowiest month of the year.  I remember fondly being snowed in on my birthday, which almost always falls during Spring Break at the end of March. We are even known for getting big snows in April, which happened when my youngest was born 5 years ago, and we lost power for a week and had to go stay with my parents. We would get enough snow that the top of Pikes Peak was white more months than not...I've really missed that.

But I still love the transition from winter into spring. One of my friends on facebook talked about going to a ranch today to watch the calves being born. This is one of my absolute favorite things about this time of year. I commute 35 miles to work each way and the majority of it is on a rural highway through many pastures. This time of year is when you see the new baby cows playing in the fields, chasing and head butting each other. I can literally feel the new energy in the air as Mother Earth wakes from her hibernation...it is refreshing and invigorating. Soon, the birds will be singing and we'll see the first robins chattering to each other on the top of my chain link fence. The daffodils will be poking up soon, and we can start the planting of the vegetable garden. (We always either start way too late or way too early - I think this will be one of the early years.)

My husband is feeling it this year, too. We went to Lowe's to buy tools and spent most of the time wandering the gardening section, picking out seeds and planning the next outdoor project. We raked and cleaned the yard today; he watered trees and tried to start the rototiller. The puppies and Matt ran and played and enjoyed the wonderful weather together.

So, yes, I do have "Spring Fever". But this year, I've decided to enjoy the little bits as it comes because I don't want to miss anything.