Unless I miss my guess the strangers I irresponsibly chat with in gas stations and stores all secretly agree with me, that while we complain about the cold and snow we actually love the season. But just as I was getting used to all that charade the winds shifted and the days grew longer. It was a dalmation day yesterday driving home from work. Fluffy white clouds spotted the sky, and slushy white snow dotted the forest floor lending an allover speckled complexion to the landscape. I slowed down and pulled off the highway onto a back road to continue my sojourn into spring, and for the first time in ages I drove with my windows down all the way home, breathing in deep the sharp fresh air. A skein of geese banked in the sky like a synchro squadron doing a flypast, aiming for a secret little pond that lies just beyond a woodlot behind a weathered grey barn. I wondered how many generations had skated on that pond in winter, and swam it's cool murky waters in summer. There was still a hazy film of rotting ice covering it, and I tried to follow the geese in their winged maneuvers from my rearview mirror, but the twisting road demanded my attention instead. From my moving window I caught snatches of songs, Robin, Sparrow and Jay, and high overhead I spied a Sharp Shinned Hawk and a Red Tailed Hawk both kiting over their chosen territories. American Kestrels will soon be seen on the wire, and Bald Eagles are already nesting nearby, so the change of season is already well underway here.
The view from my kitchen window isn't so cheerful. The snow has given way to mud. Now on an evening when I turn on the tiny sparkling Christmas lights sprinkled through a backyard tree they don't look so joyful. The winter cheer is gone. Whereas for the past many months the family dogs traipsing in the back door have been caked with glittering snow, now they come in with sticky muddy paws. Not quite the same feel good vibe, but we roll with it. And the same goes for the seasons; we change our attire and our attitude, and get on with the change. I can hardly wait for things to green up.