The reason I know it's Spring, is because it says so on my calendar. & I saw first my Robin...

& heard my first Meadowlark.

The green in the background is not ours. This is what it looks like in the Black Hills of South Dakota in March,

& April.

at least, until the end of April, & then we begin to see our first signs of green of the grass, the leaves begin to bud, the tulips, crocuses, daffodils & irises begin to make their appearance. But sometimes our biggest snows come in the springtime. I remember two years in a row that we got at least three feet of snow at the last of April. It was so beautiful & we had our best sledding days (& nights!) of the year! We knew it was going to melt quickly because the temperature would be in the sixties during the day. Those were some of our best family memories. I can't remember all of the mud that I'm sure followed, but I do remember the girls screaming with delight, (me too!) as we literally flew down the hill, our border collie racing us to the bottom!
So, we do not get lulled into some false security that winter is over, though we can dream. 
I think some of the hardiest & most patient people have lived all of their lives here in this country. We have lived here for at least thirty five years. Out of our seven children, only one has stayed here, but she isn't married yet so that may change. The others have opted for places that are not quite so cold or the winters are not so long. But there is really no other place that I would rather be, at this time in my life anyway. & the Spring here, though we have to wait until mid-May for it to come to its fulness, is worth waiting for. However, we can have little teasers, or blessings of its beginnings such as this flirting Thomas turkey.

 The girls were all standing around eating & totally ignoring him & did a little playing of hard to get. Or they may have been truly uninterested. But "faint heart ne'er won fair lady", so Thomas kept up his one turkey parade among the girls to show just how handsome & desirable he truly was. One hen finally took some interest, but another hen came over to her & pecked her on the head several times. "When choosing a husband, don't choose the first one who comes along & flirts with you. There are plenty of other gobblers out there!" The first hen conceded & went back to her eating. It was probably her mother that was instructing her. Ah, but did that stop our amorous suitor?  Of course not! That's part of what Spring is all about. Perseverance! Many years ago we raised five turkeys from chicks, so they were domesticated. One of the Thomas's (our first 'Thomas') was the boss & looked just like the one in the picture above. The other gobbler was a white turkey we named 'Wilbur'. Thomas & Wilbur were friends, but Thomas was definitely the boss turkey, & Wilbur was okay with that. 

Thomas was the self-appointed 'Constable on Patrol' & he took his job seriously, (actually he went too far at times.) There were six females in the house at the time, five daughters & myself, & Thomas was, annoyingly at times, protective. He was our escort to the car, from the car to the house, as we walked inside or outside of the yard, hanging out the laundry, sitting on the porch swing, working in the garden, Thomas was right there with us. & if all of us were in the yard at the same time, it made him a little neurotic. He would sidle up to one of the girls, eyeing them with one side eye that was a little creepy. He didn't belong to us, we belonged to him, his  own personal possessions, so to speak. & he did NOT like males, except for my husband. He was better than a watchdog. He always announced when someone came for a visit. If it was a male, Thomas was so intimidating, that full grown men would sprint to the front door! Sometimes they would still feel the wrath of Thomas's beak. The same also could be told of any suitor's of our daughters, because Thomas's motto even then was "Faint heart ne'er won fair lady". Courting our daughters was not for the weak of heart while Cop Thom was on duty.

🦃🦃🦃🦃🦃🦃🦃🦃🦃🦃🦃🦃🦃🦃🦃🦃

Another blessing & joy of Spring is all of the new life.

Don't you just want to hug his neck??🤗 

 & I just don't know of anything cuter than this! Oh boy, I just want to squeeze this little guy right now! 

🐷🐷🐷🐷🐷🐷🐷

Since there won't be any flowers in bloom for at least another month, (except for the hardy dandelion!), I will content myself with my little 'wagon garden'.

Those are all miniature roses that I will plant when it's warm.

They have a delicately sweet, rosie fragrance & look so pretty & are a visual & scent-ual  elixir to my soul!

& no matter what the time of year is, there is always the spirit lifting of the comedy relief!

Sassy squirrel greedily devouring a french fry that fell out of my husband's car. We have a front row seat for this guys silly antics!

We are a family of celebrations! We always celebrate the first day of each month by having what I have always called 'Chocolate Stuff' on toast, biscuits, or fruit, for breakfast. I don't really remember how or why we started this particular tradition, but the kids have always loved it. The chocolate sauce is hot & I always put a little pat of butter in the middle.

My husband does not like, as he puts it, having candy for breakfast, but he is rarely home for breakfast on the first of the month. If he is, bacon & eggs for him thankyou very much!
I don't know why, but I associate this cake with springtime (except for my birthday which is in the fall) but it is a favorite, maybe because it's so colorful.

Also, it was my father-in-laws favorite cake & if he was here on his birthday, which was in May, I would always make him a Pineapple-Upside-Down cake. 😋

Speaking of celebrations, my youngest daughter will be getting her braces off tomorrow & we will be celebrating by having popcorn which she has not been able to have for a year & a half! Oh boy!

I can recall many of the April Fool's jokes that were played on this day. We had a rubber snake that made many appearances in many different & creative places. I don't know why it always came as a shock to me as you would think I would be on guard in keeping with the day. It's like I would always forget which day it was when I opened the bathroom cupboard. The snake was always affixed in such a way that it would 'leap' out at you! Of course the kids always hovered nearby waiting for the scream that was always guaranteed. Once, my son smuggled the snake through a hole in the side of a box of oranges. This one was perpetrated on his Dad, so I was an accomplice by knowledge to this scene. My husband was using his knife to cut the lid open & when he lifted the lid, his reaction far surpassed our perverse expectations! That snake took on a life of its own & vaulted out of that box! My husband yelled, did a very impressive spring backward & sliced the air several times with his best imitation of 'Zorro the Magnificent'!

We all have a zany sense of humor in our house, so my husband was a good sport. After all, there was always 'The Revenge of Zorro' !  & you could count on it!

Spring is the season of  'waiting' when it's April in the Black Hills. Waiting for warm, waiting for color, waiting to plant, many, many 'waitings'. It's probably my least favorite month of the year because you know there will be more days of 'cabin fever' because of the snow & cold (although days  like that are some of my best creative & inspirational when it comes to jokes. One of my daughters says she always knows when I'm having 'cabin fever' when I text her one of my many clever jokes. 😂)  Spring fever hits & there's no place for it to express itself. & there are little imps of depression, maybe even futility that sneak in & encourage murmuring & complaining. Remember the song in the old movie "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers" about the continuous winter & the girls are lamenting when it will ever be spring?

even in May?
But it does come. & the brides & brothers at the end of the scene are singing 

🎶"Spring, Spring, Spring..."🎶

 But there are other 'waitings', for springs of the heart, 'waitings' for the trial to be ended, the anguished heart to feel life again, the cold, icy, suffocating, grip of death that can only thaw from the breath of our loving & lovable, sweet Father. In the heart's winter seasons, it can seem interminably long for spring to come. I have often wondered about the scripture from Psalm 30:5 that says, "...weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning." The night that precedes joy seems, at times, so very, very, long. But, dear one who is in this season, there is another scripture in Psalms 27:13 & 14, "I would have lost heart unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait on the Lord. Be of good courage & He shall strengthen your heart..." 💖
Your Spring is promised. & no matter how cold or wintry it is right now, it's coming. & "when dreams come true at last, it is a tree of life."
I wrote a song years ago from the "Song of Solomon" & was  also inspired from the book 'Hinds Feet on High Places'
 by Hannah Hurnurd. Some of the lyrics are  "...I am not afraid of winter's heartless storms, for resurrection waits, He made, He bore & He atones...winter's past, & now at last, it is Spring."  
So, this is what we need to do in our 'waitings' .

Take hold of the Shepherd's hand & trust Him in this season, because He loves you so much & He's waiting to 'strengthen your heart'.  & to whisper to your sore heart...

is coming.💖

Raintree perk of the day while waiting for 'Spring':
Colossians 1:11 "May you be strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might, for all endurance & patience (or waiting) with joy."