“Would you think it? Spring is come.
Winter ’s paid his passage home;
Packed his ice-box.—gone—half-way
To the Arctic Pole, they say.
But I know the old ruffian still
Skulks about from hill to hill,
Where his freezing footprints cling,
Though ‘t is Spring?”
—Christopher Pearse Cranch, A Spring Growl, 1878
It is finally spring in the northern hemisphere! However, in the Rockies this time of year, spring is more a symbolic event and the meteorological season more a convention than reality. There is still snow on the ground, but at least temperatures did rise and days and nights are not as cold anymore as just a little while ago. While meteorological spring starts on March 1, astronomical spring is still 20 days away with the vernal equinox marking the day when daytime and nighttime is about the same length. Be it as it may, I look forward to spring!