Spring is officially here. Pay no attention to the need to wear your winter jacket and hat. It is spring. The bloodroots prove it! After searching high and low, I finally found them in abundance, down by the river. The other flowers won't be far behind. Hepatica, Leatherwood, Violets. Small leaves are poking up through the dried leaves.

The Yellow Rumped Warblers are flitting about the trees, snatching up almost invisible insects. The swallows are competing for the nest boxes along the road.Sandhill Cranes are strutting about the fields. The songs of various sparrows, the pounding of the woodpeckers, the soft coos of the mourning doves fill the air.

There is an aliveness to the woods that has been missing. An urgency permeates the fields and wetlands. This is the time! Now is when the push to grow, bloom, create the next generations begins.

As the summer unfolds, I will keep you appraised of what is blooming, migrating, and hatching out there. There is also a giant white board in the machine shed, where I will be documenting the latest blooms, showing where you might find them in the village wilds. I hope you schedule your time to allow you to experience first hand the wonder that is nature in the village!