In February, signs of life

The onset of February with its blustery mix of unsettled weather tells us that we are nearing the days of spring and transformation.

One does not need to belly down too closely to see the awakening. Minute changes that are underway. There is a hint of pink beginning to show in the swelling of the maple, and new growth can be discerned in the tasseling of our naked swamp cypress, despite their standing knee-deep in flowing icy bottom lands.

This mysterious transfiguration is wrought by the power Dylan Thomas called, “The force that through the green fuse drives the flower.” It induces the shad and herring back to their ancestral waters, causes sap to rise and creates the chlorophyll that feeds the unfolding leaf, tender and green.

Life means the birthing of a fawn, an egg shell emitting a bit of fuzz destined to fill the woodlands with songs in harmony with spring peepers and buzzing mosquito. Life stirs when February arrives unlocking her traveling bags with the strengthening sun.

This story was originally published February 6, 2016 at 2:14 PM with the headline "In February, signs of life."