The tide is high--it must be spring!

Spring has truly sprung, ushering in the annual basement flood. I went to do laundry this morning and found an inch of water at the bottom of the stairs. Time to hook up the sump pump, one of the many rites of spring.
Yesterday I heard woodcocks buzzing in the early morning and at dusk. Today, it was flocks of robins and a horde of grackles, creaking in the treetops. And the jonquils are sprouting up in the woods.
I still have to get the fire stoked in the morning, but let it die down through the daylight hours. By dusk, as the damp chill returns, it's time to relight the stove. The forecast is for a few inches of snow and rain for tomorrow, so I've stacked wood around the stove to have a ready supply of dry heat!
The yard looks tired and trashed from the winter; wood chips and bark litter the driveway, twigs and dog poop decay on the lawn. I started in on my spring cleaning today, neatening and tidying the place up.
Soon it will be time to ready the garden beds, but half of them still lie dormant under the snowbanks.