Sprung

While my Dad and Doug worked on the upstairs bathroom project Saturday morning, Harrison and I went to the Public Market--the first time we've ventured there since the local harvest offerings died down in early December. It's much too early for local fruits and veggies, but as it was the first warm spring Saturday, it was bustling, and it was energizing to be back there. Fruit is meant to be squeezed and sniffed and selected outdoors--even if the avocado or mango you're molesting had to come all the way from Mexico or Guatemala for the privilege.

There are buds on the backyard lilacs and the crocus, daffodils, and miniature iris are popping their little green heads up through the mulch toward the sun. Yesterday was a dramatic day weather-wise. (Though not as dramatic as it was for my cousin Laura in Arkansas who reported baseball-sized hail!) There were dark rolling storm clouds and crash-boom thunder for the greater part of the day, then a warm evening with sunshowers and, later, blue skies.

Harrison is fascinated by everything he'd forgotten about outside and all the new things that he hadn't yet discovered. He points at our license plates and says his letters "B! K! O! W! V!" and points to and counts out the characters: "Two. Two. Two." [He's still working on that.] He shouts "Eye-s" [Eggs] and "Ucky!" at the winter's worth of scattered eggshells and rotting vegetables composting in the various flowerbeds. He closely examines sticks from the maple in the side yard. He tromps up to the neighborhood kids and shouts his demands "Bike!" Ball!" and they comply.

Yesterday after dinner Harrison scooted around on his tricycle and jumped gleefully in the mudpuddles at the foot of the driveway.

He spent 10 minutes pointing and smiling at a soggy leaf stuck to the side of the house.

Doug pointed out a V of geese flying toward the lake and Harrison honked back in greeting and continued honking at the morning doves, finches, pigeons, and various other urban backyard birds we encountered.

There's no question that spring is in the process of springing.