Turning the Corner

Today feels like it - the first unofficial day of spring. It seems like there is always a day, every year, that just doesn't feel like the previous ones. You notice it as soon as you hit the door and realize a coat is unnecessary. You see other people outside. They are smiling. They know, too.

You look at your yard and now you're not saying "It's a mess, but the mess is going to have to wait". You actually think in terms of going out and doing something about it. And, at least for today, it feels good raking up the twigs or whatever you feel inclined to do.

You hear occasional rumbles on the nearby roadway. These are the people who spent small fortunes on Harley Davidsons and have recognized that today is the day the Harley makes its premier 2008 appearance.

There is more barking, as more dogs are being walked and encroaching on one another's domains. You look up and notice that birds are getting busy, carrying building materials around in their beaks. You look down and realize that there are a lot of flowers and other plants, largely unnoticed until today, making their annual breach of the soil, finding air and daylight, shooting up toward the sunlight.

And yeah, there is real sunlight on this first day, too. Not all muted by clouds, but the real, warming, day-brightening kind that is too rare in northern Ohio, but welcomed whenever it makes one of its limited engagements.

The signs are all here. This is it; spring is here.