Changing seasons

Just a few months ago, our snow was deep and heavy, and . . . lovely. It was white and crisp and clean.Now it looks like this:

And this:

Yuck!
The lovely boy scout snow caves, which they worked hours on, have degenerated to this:

There is a nice little skylight and a new back door in this cave.

But perhaps the saddest thing of all to see is what lies under the snow.

My lawn, once green and beautifully lush, is now a soggy muck of mud and grass.

Every year I wonder if the grass will once again grow back. And it always does. But during the months of March and April, it looks pretty hopeless.

Watching winter turn back into spring is a hard process here. The land has to work hard to reclaim itself, and it knows that it really has a relatively short time to do it. The sun is weak, but it is out longer now. You can see the plants and the people gradually warm up to it and soak it in. We are all slowly coming back to life.