Mud!

March 21st.  It's raining outside.  Yesterday was the official "first day of spring."

Spring rain and melting snow mean...mud, mess, and one wet, smelly Atticus tracking it into the house...

Ahem...that's why they call it a mud room!?

Yet, the multi-day floor sweeps and moppings, and the more frequent than usual washing of the bedcovers are worth it.  Atticus ably seeks out the largest, muddiest puddles, and flies through them en route to rousing the Canadian geese, mallards, and many other water foul taking advantage of the transient oasises that abound this time of year...little cold springs popping up everywhere as if just for their enjoyment....well, and that of Atticus!  It makes me smile and cheer even on the gloomiest of days, or in the gloomiest of spirits. 

And, while the muck, mess, and hikes in the wellingtons are not something I particularly cherish, they are harbingers of green grass, sprouting crocuses, and all the energy, hope, and freshness that is spring. 

"To be interested in the changing seasons is a happier state of mind

 than to be hopelessly in love with spring." 

~George Santayana (1863-1952)

We are seeing beauty all around...especially in the muddy puddles. 
And...we are making preparations indoors for spring's much anticipated arrival...

      Lemons, jelly beans, fresh flowers, and pastel loveliness....

If there comes a little thaw,
Still the air is chill and raw,
Here and there a patch of snow,
Dirtier than the ground below,
Dribbles down a marshy flood;
Ankle-deep you stick in mud In the meadows while you sing,
"This is Spring."

      ~Christopher Pearce Cranch, A Spring Growl


Here's to enjoying the "not quite spring" things.