The calendar and temperature suggest otherwise, but my spring begins when the first flock of robins descend on the tree outside my dining room window.  They arrive in large numbers to retrieve the red berries that just a week ago were encased in ice.

The Philodendron on the north facing windowsill I curated all winter also sense a change – their leaves display an aliveness that short winter days and the dryness of furnace heat had stifled.

The earth emits a musky odor as plants and creatures stir underneath pushing up toward the light.  Leaves begin to take flight in the March wind uncovering new growth throughout my yard.