A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

Recently, I spent the morning with my special needs buddy, Sarah. As always, I enjoyed our time together as she encouraged me to look at things in a new way. We were taking a walk outside when I commented on some emerging daffodil leaves and asked if any were coming up at her house. She said yes, then stooped down and gently stroked the leaves. She commented how soft they were and how the backs were softer than the fronts. I had never taken the time to examine daffodils with my hands, so I was curious. I bent down and stroked the leaves gently just as she had and no surprise, she was right. They were soft.  I'm not exactly sure of the path that my mind took, but I soon started to quietly sing the Mr. Roger's song, "It's a Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood."

Since then, that song has been popping in and out of my mind as I see more and more signs of spring. Here are just a few of them.

The ornamental pear tree has tiny buds on it.

The snowdrop buds have bloomed.

As has the helebore.

I hear more birds singing.

I dug in the dirt when we planted our apple tree. Eventually, we hope this replaces the old apple trees we have now. If we can keep the deer away until we get a cage around it, we'll be good to go.

And the sign of spring that I wait for the most every year, our first crocuses have bloomed.