February’s Gift

Despite the snow…and intermittent, constant cold, there’s cause for optimism this time of year.

You can feel the sun gaining more and more strength every day.

The shadows are sharper, the light is warmer…even the colors are brighter.

Whew….

Cuz you never know.

I mean I assume the winter won’t last forever, but I also assume the Publishers Clearing House Sweepstakes people are going to be knocking on my door, any day now.

So it’s good to see signs.

You can’t count on the Robin’s…not anymore.  The Robins are here all year round, now. At least it seems that way. 

I came out on my back porch in January and there were about 12 of them jumping around on my lawn. I can’t be certain, but I think they were giving me the stink eye…as if to say, “What…you never saw a Robin before?”

Daffodil shoots, peeking out through the snow is a good sign.

As is the little bit of new red growth extending from the end of the maple tree’s branches.

On the days I’m able to sleep in, morning sunshine, angling high through the bedroom window is nice to wake up to.

On the days I’m not, the wait for the sky to brighten, is hardly a wait at all.

Best of the best, the evening sun hangs higher, lasting longer, every day, a little more than the last.

The western sky paints silhouettes of rooftops long into the evening; chimney smoke drifting into clouds.

Not quite on the homestretch to spring, but definitely on the backstretch, approaching the final turn.

Reasons to be optimistic…a gift…three quarters through February.

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