Spring has sprung

I’ve always thought that while some parts of the country have colorful, beautiful autumns, this part of Missouri is at its best in the spring.

The scenery looks almost like a watercolor painting with its flowering white trees, redbuds, pink tulip poplars and bright sunshiny forsythia.

After a cold winter that can best be described as “not as bad as last year’s but bad enough,” spring tentatively stuck its toe in the water and drew back a couple of times. Not quite ready to commit to being here, but occasionally spring would show up with some warmth and a few dandelions. You knew it was coming, but spring itself wasn’t quite sure when it would come to stay.

There were a few days where a jacket felt comfortable, and the wind made you think twice about any kind of yard work, although the racks of flower and vegetable garden seeds beckoned from garden centers.

But it seems that now spring is here for a while. Flowers have sprouted and bloomed bringing color everywhere. Rain showers surprise us, but after they pass through, the trees and grass are so much greener and the air fresher.

Mornings often start with the buzz of weed whackers and the chugging of lawn mowers. We’ve missed that over the winter, and as time goes on they’ll become annoying, but for now we welcome them. And after the weeds are trimmed and the grass is mowed, there’s that wonderful smell of fresh-cut grass.

And sneezing from the pollen that’s been released, but it’s better than sneezing from the cold, wet winter.

It’s spring! Soon orange traffic cones will sprout up like daylilies alongside the highway. Lime green safety vests will dot the landscape while road crews do their work, some holding bright yellow and red signs that make us pause and take in the scenery of over-tanned road employees who stand in the burning sun seeing how  many cars they can line up before radiators start popping steam.

Spring is newness, rebirth. A reawakening of yard sales, the sudden appearance of mosquitoes buzzing, fat rabbits sampling newborn lettuce, squirrels scampering among the bird feeders.

Before long summer will bring its humidity, the rabbits will have moved on to plump, red tomatoes, and the squirrels might leave us a few peaches on the trees, but for now, there’s nothing like spring.