It's spring, it really is. Do you know how I know? These are popping up everywhere:

I even saw a lone hyacinth today, and the daffodil buds are coming up. I know it could snow again, but that won't change the fact that the days are beginning to feel lighter and longer and we're seeing the sun more. It no longer feels like the purpose of living is to slog through the interminable grey days, crossing them off the calendar as they pass; hope has snuck in, and light, and a feeling of the boundlessness of days.

 It's more fun to take Augie out walking now, as there's much more for him to explore and touch.

Taking after his mama, he sat down and sorted through some rocks (I can't wait to share my rock collection with him! From all the favorite places I've been, precarious cairns pieced together on mountaintops and tucked into my backpack to bring home, wave-battered stones from the shores of Lake Superior...)