Signs of Life

There is an elementary school at the end of our block. I've noticed this week the kids walking down the hill every morning around now, siblings, groups of families, or girls walking in pairs. They walk back home around three, full of laughter and energy.

The kids don't walk to school when its cold out, but they've started again.

Cropping up here and there are little moments that tell me warmth is on its way. Yesterday the sun was out and shining, giving us an afternoon of warmth. Our kitchen windows have been open for a few days now, hinting we're probably done with the heater for a while. Bulbs planted at the end of fall are pushing up through the dirt in the Boston Common and in our church's garden. Gerard Manley Hopkins writes,

What is all this juice and all this joy?
A strain of the earth's sweet being
in the beginning in Eden garden.

I don't think I've ever appreciated Spring so much as I do this year.