"If winter comes, can spring be far behind?"

"O wild west wind, if winter comes can spring be far behind?"

I have always loved this ode by Percy Shelley. It is a poem about anticipation, and right now anticipation for spring is great in Ohio.   In March, one day may still be winter and the next spring-like.

I love the lengthening of the days now, and the temperatures this week are climbing from the 60's and into the 70's.  Life is renewed, and a fresh start for all living things begins.

This is our granddaughter's first transition from winter to spring, and today we enjoyed a walk in nearby woods to celebrate the welcome warmth.

Marisol enjoying our walk in the woods today.

I know what being outdoors brings to me, but as I gazed at Marisol today the wonders of the woods intensified.

On our walk today we paused as the birds' voices swelled around the bends of the path.  As a 10-month-old, Marisol loves both seeing and hearing birds and her eyes widen at their joyous sounds.

Halfway through the walk I took her out of  her scarlet and gray stroller so that she could experience the woods firsthand.  We patted a shaggy bark hickey tree's trunk and we smiled at its roughness.  We then moved to a contrasting elm trunk.

She twisted her head as she perceived the noise of rustling leaves and watched a squirrel leap from the leaves to a tree. I placed a small twig in her hands and she hesitatingly gripped it between her thumbs and fingers.

Up and down the hills we traversed, and her head turned left and right as she strove to take in the sights and sounds of an early spring woods.

Although no leaves block the sunlight from her eyes yet, soon the woods will change from brown to green, and we will be there again and again to see it. Together.

Through her eyes, I experience the woods anew, just as God intended, for that is the meaning and beauty of spring.

My heart leaps up

"My heart leaps up when I behold a rainbow in the sky." William Wordsworth

I have always loved the British Romantic poets, especially those poets dedicated to the beauty of nature.

I, too, love the beauty around us each day if we choose to see it.  My husband and I share a love of nature and the outdoors, having hiked over 40 National Parks.

But often it is the beauty in our own backyards which brings us joy daily.

A hairy woodpecker visits our suet feeder on a snowy day.

Three white-tailed deer visit our backyard in search of vegetation.

Is there anything more beautiful than a cardinal at the suet right outside the sliding glass door . . .

except perhaps a male Eastern bluebird!

And so, yes, my heart leaps up, as Wordsworth's, when I behold a rainbow in the sky, and as he continued. . . .

So was it while I was a child,
So is it now that I am a man,
So will it be when I am old,
Or let me die.

I hope you find a "rainbow" in your backyard.