Today is the official start of Spring in my part of the world, but you might not realize it by looking out the window. We had a bit of a winter storm yesterday, an icy-slushy-snowy mix that brought messy roads and cancelled schools. Today is bright and sunny, but I hear that more snow is on the way.
A couple of days ago, I saw the first spikes of crocuses poking out of the ground. I was too rushed to get a photo. Here is the stretch of ground where they were a couple of days ago:
No signs of crocus here. But I was happy that my lens managed to capture the rainbow sparkle of the icy snow in the sunlight. (Rainbow Sparkle sounds like a My Little Pony name. Crocus, on the other hand, sounds like a name for a toad.)
It wasn’t was I was looking for, but I will admit that the snow is pretty.
Iced mushrooms on a stump. (Sounds like the name for an unsuccessful recipe.)
Pretty it may be in clumps on pine needles, but “pretty” is not what I was thinking as I was chiseling through the 1-inch crust of frozen slush on my windshield.
The sunlight hitting the drooping rhododendron leaves made for a splash of color.
The most color was to be found in the wintery clothing of my children. (Here’s one splash of color sweeping the snowy footprints with a branch of pine. On my driveway. Yes, that sheet of snow and ice is my driveway. Good times.)
Here, one of my splashes of color cradles a lump of ice. (Additional color provided by the recycling bins. Pick-up delayed one day by the storm.)
So, there we are. Spring? Not so much sprung. I may have to resort to looking at photos of last year’s spring.
collecting tokens 
The snow we had – same as the snow you had – was icy snow. It looked and felt like sugar crystals.
Clearly, if I want to experience a real winter ever again, I need to get out of my city and move closer to yours!
I keep telling myself that March comes in like a lion and out like a lamb. It’s going to happen! I know it!
We have hardly had any snow in Virginia this winter, but the winter has been long, cold, grey. Normally by late March, we’ve had some warm spells. Not this year.
Wow. Phoebe is tall!
And those are beautiful photos. Sorry you’ve had such late slow this year, though. I seem to remember from my few years in Boston that spring was the absolute worst time of year. I kept expecting milder weather and not getting it.