Spring thaw

The weather here in New England has been getting progressively better. The snow is melting so fast that when the Boo and I are outside, we can hear the crackling ice. And then there's the mud, which he thinks is wonderful but I am desperately trying to keep out of my house.

All this sunshine and warmth, not to mention the pending arrival of spring, has lifted my mood. I am lucky in that I don't really suffer from seasonal affective disorder (SAD), but months of being cooped up and short days does take its toll. I do love the sunshine, the flowers, my pool, cooking on the grill -- just all the fruits, figuratively and literally, of the too-short warm season. Maybe in other parts of the country, they take this stuff for granted. But here, where the winters are long and cold and test our resilience, spring and summer are to be celebrated. And I say: Hooray!