It's a surprise every year.

It's only a hint of green, in the final weeks of March. A small shoot here and there in the yard. And then April comes with softer days and nights that don't curl your toes. It's lighter and brighter. You smile as you drive home from work thinking there just might be enough energy in you to work in the yard a bit. You grab the rake, the gloves and the clippers. You pull back the layer of leaves left from Autumn's final winds and discover...a whole new world waking up.

It amazes me every year how much hides just out of sight until April. The trees are still brown. The grass is still ragged. But look! Really look. The whole world was waiting for this one day, and it can't wait anymore.

As you can see, the crocus are blooming. Daffodils, tulips, sedum, iris, lilies, bleeding hearts, astors, daisies, pennywort, vinca, violets and endless other unnamed wonders were only waiting for me to pull away the dead to let the young and new try their wings.

The other thing that happens as I smile at my forgotten but newfound friends is my mind wanders. I'll try to think of practical things. But that is not what the garden lends itself to. Instead, flights of fancy tug at my brain. My fingers itch to share those whimsical thoughts. And I come back into the house to write.

Such is Spring. A fount of energy and promise. It would be derelict of me to pass by the opportunity.

Happy days!