Spring is Here!

It's official. Our final snow was on March 20th--the first day of spring, and we got about three inches. One last snowy, winter-wonderland blast.

Snowdrops blooming in the snow.

New Jersey Cotton

In the two-and-a-half weeks since our last snow, we have watched the grass emerge from beneath its winter blanket. In the past two-and-a-half days, we have watched it turn green. Yesterday, suddenly, a tree budded out. Amazing.

Same tree.

Snow Drops sans snow

Since this isn't our own yard and we have never been here in spring, we have no idea what's going to come up next. J was the first to find some bulbs pushing up. Yesterday, some started blooming.

Hyacinth?

Today we had yet another marker of spring: the return of the frogs.

In all, there's a glorious picture of new life breaking through death: perfectly timed this year with Easter.

We had a delightful and comparatively quiet celebration here in our temporary home. The children were able to participate in not one but two Easter egg hunts--one in this huge yard, and one after the service at church.

Ready to go a-hunting

Here's Wombles, giddily pointing out one of Nutmeg's pink eggs. For the past several years we have color-coded the kids' eggs, meaning we can aim to vary difficulty in age-appropriate ways.

As usual, Caesar wanted little to do with the shenanigans.

For a few minutes in the midst, a bald eagle circled above our yard.

This year, we did not have our usual Easter seder meal. We celebrated more simply, with a feast but without a lot of trappings. We had the pleasure of hosting one of J's former students over the weekend, and he was a trooper about joining the boys in sports play when they asked (which was often). Sunday afternoon, he and Bud took on J and Wombles in football. One of the late plays in the game, fourth-(or more)-and long:

First Down!

I hope you had a wonderful Easter, and that wherever you are--even in those perennially warm sorts of places, like South Georgia and Southern California--you are able to have eyes wide open to spring and all of its messy and bright beauty.