Awakening Days

We've had the balmiest of weather this winter.
For example today reached a high of seventy seven degrees......in February !

The warmer weather, has forced the Iris shoots to poke through the soil.
I trust they know that Winter is not yet over.

The bird feeders have been a flurry of activity, and I've witnessed Spring cleaning of the birdhouses.
A busy little Carolina Wren, with her beak full of feathers, moss and sticks, flinging it all so recklessly with little regard for it's former tenant.

The deer have been visiting nightly

There are definite signs of spring.
Even the Lamb's Ear is looking perky.

Rain Boots Mandatory

This Middle Tennessee valley was blessed with several days of glorious sunshine throughout the week.

Temperatures warm enough to shed Winter coats, and exchange with short-sleeved shirts and flip-flops.

Today most of the entire area is under a flash flood warning, up to three inches of rain predicted in a twenty four hour period, temperatures back in the 'normal' range and potential tornado threats.

The weather is certainly never a bore around this lush valley region.

Little birds are busy building their nests.

This one is a left-over on the porch wreath, I see signs of new fluffing and tweaking.

The Iris have made their way through the dampened, soft earth.
Signs of Spring are surely all around us.

"March bustles in on windy feet

And sweeps my doorstep and my street.

She washes and cleans with pounding rains,

Scrubbing the earth of winter stains.

She shakes the grime from carpet green

Till naught but fresh new blades are seen.

Then, house in order, all neat as a pin,

She ushers gentle springtime in."

~ Susan Reiner, Spring Cleaning

Early Spring

"Harshness vanished. A sudden softness
has replaced the meadows' wintry grey.
Little rivulets of water changed
their singing accents. Tendernesses,
hesitantly, reach toward the earth
from space, and country lanes are showing
these unexpected subtle risings
that find expression in the empty trees."

~ Rainer Marie Rilke, Early Spring