Spring is Sprunging

Okay, so we're not entirely done with winter yet. It is still February, after all, and even here in Texas we're expecting a freeze this weekend. (Hello, sinus headache #36.)

But the signs of spring are all around me. Up and down my street, daffodils are in bloom, and even the redbud tree in my backyard has braved a few deep purple flowers. The mockingbirds have been singing their complex mating songs for weeks. It's hard for me to feel sad if a mockingbird is in song anywhere near me. Even at four a.m., which is when a mockingbird is apt to burst into song outside my window.

Today I saw a grackle flying with a bit of dried grass in its mouth. A nest! (Say what you will about grackles, but I think they're beautiful with their glossy black feathers and enormous tails.) But the inevitable sign that winter is almost over? I got an email from the Cornell University Nestcams. The cams are live, and the barn owls are courting. (The male barn owl brings the female a tasty dead mouse. Once she accepts his gift, he jumps her bones--sometimes before she can even get the mouse down her throat. It's a lovely sight.) Soon, large white eggs will start to appear. (And if I get addicted to watching the owls again this year, I'll never finish my current work-in-progress.)

I'm huddled here in my quilted bathrobe as I write this, but my winter frozen heart has already started its spring thaw. I'm breaking out the flip-flops and suntan lotion, I'm stocking up on lime juice for those frozen margaritas that are right around the corner. I'm also eying the bookshelves, pondering my summer reading list. In winter I snuggle under the electric blanket with heavy literary books (you know, the ones with book club discussion guides printed on the back pages). But now my tastes are leaning toward fun and flirty, light and luscious beach reads.

I can't wait!