Welp. It’s still cold. Really, really, cold. Face burningly, car door crunchingly, joint painingly cold. And it was a long time coming. I mean, overall it has been a relatively mild winter. Not too much snow and a surprising amount of 30-40 degree days. That’s not bad for a midwestern winter. Here, 30 is when you can go out without a coat and fool yourself into believing spring is right around the corner.

But what really was around the corner was February.

And March.

Aka, the real winter months. When the moisture inside of your nose and mouth freeze when you walk outside. When your toes go numb even inside of your fur-lined boots. When, even in your own home, you must walk around with a blanket and mug of warm soup/cocoa/tea. Even in your own home.

Throughout the biting temperatures and frequent weather warning to my cell phone, there is still no denying it: the days are getting longer. The hens are laying, the fresh snow keeps melting, and it no longer looks like bedtime outside by the time I leave the office at 5 p.m. And so, despite the record lows temperatures of the winter, spring is in the air!

Nothing drove this fact home more fully than the opportunity to go feed newborn baby goats at Prairie Fruits Farm and Creamery last week. I mean look at these guys.

How can you not feel joy and hope when looking into these giant eyes? You can’t.

And that’s spring for you isn’t it? New life and new hope. So keep it coming snow storms and freezing rains. I have my seeds ordered and my open toed shoes dug out of the closet. The anticipation in these days when spring hangs heavy in the air is almost more exciting than when it actually arrives. Almost.

We’re almost there!