Already the telltale signs are around me.  Geese are headed north and robins, by the dozen, sporting rotund orange bellies, are dotting the parade grounds in front of my home.

In the neighborhood new mulch is being laid in flower beds while the sun, however fickle, is busy coaxing up the tips of bright green leaves from bulbs that have lain dormant under the soil through the long winter months.

All too soon I’ll venture outdoors and find that spring has arrived in Nebraska.

A riot of green will appear seemingly overnight and the entire landscape will change as trees are newly clothed in the latest spring fashions.  Familiar landscapes will change as trees laden with leaves obscure what is around them.

While the earth rejoices in the rejuvenating warmth of this new season I’ll prepare to be a bit melancholy, knowing I’ll miss the stark, black branches of winter with their unabashed nudity and outright honesty.