Watch the light, not the weather
Ten days into spring proper, the true spirit of the season continues to elude us.
April is here and yet phrases like "snow showers" and "wind chills" still roll off the tongues of our local weather forecasters.
But don't despair, people of mid-Michigan. Evidence of spring is all around, if you know where to look - in the swelling buds, in the ratchet-song of sandhill cranes, in the frenzied nest-building of mourning doves, in the home-run trots of tom turkeys ...
And, most importantly, in the new light.
As always, spring weather is thoroughly unreliable. It's like a line-dancer confused by the routine, eager to cut loose, but not knowing quite what to do. Two steps forward; one step back.
Daylight, on the other hand, is entirely dependable. For the next three months it can dance only in one direction - toward greater illumination.
You don't need sunshine and 70 degrees to notice that the cosmic night-light continue to burn past 8 p.m. these days.
It tells us that warmth is on the dance floor, loosening up.