I came home this week after work to find the bride playing with the boy in the front yard. I was enjoying the unexpected temporary break in the cold, biting, bitter weather and sunless days. As I walked across the yard I looked at the multiple moles tunnels etching about. As I wondered how they can mess a yard up in the winter I caught a flash of color. “No way” was my first meandering  thought. My next more direct and conscious thought was “yes way”! There in the middle of my yard, with a stem no more then an eighth of and inch long was a dandelion! It maybe the sign of the end of the world to some (since dandelions are weeds, and they are coming up early, this does not bold well with those who actually care what grows in their yard) but for me it is an oasis in the middle of this desert of a winter.

As the bride and I walk around the yard I breath deep and smell the smell of spring. It’s faint but it’s there: the smell of new growth. I like it. The boy sniffs around looking, uh well for something dead to roll in but at least he is happy there is no snow over it this time!

I  have been writing some heavy stuff at least for me these last few posts and there are a few more in the works. It’s been a cold, dark and long winter for me personally. So I count my blessings. I look forward.I am blessed with faith, great friends and the hope of a brighter tomorrow. I look up.I breath deep of the faint sweet and earthy smell of the coming spring: Yes the sun is shining, the under currents of winter are melting, the green things are in the starting gate and waiting for the starters gun to signal that spring is here!