Is it spring yet?

I am ready for spring! There was one morning last week, where I stepped outside and the air was warmer than I expected, (above zero) and I could almost smell soil, dirt, the ground that is buried way down there somewhere. I thought, spring! I forget about the absence of scents outdoors in the winter. The farm doesn't smell, not when everything is frozen. I dreamed that I was hearing the songs that the chickadees sing only on spring mornings. We are gaining around seven minutes of light each day. Each morning I am surprised at how early it is light out. At evening I find myself looking at the clock and thinking; is it really this late? Shouldn't it be dark by now?

Yesterday as I drove into town the sun was so high and intense. The warmth seeped into my skin. I had to put my sunglasses on. Everywhere was sun. Sun glaring off the shiny metal buildings and white snow banks. The roads are icy and slick. I thought, isn't this what spring is - in Fairbanks?

I'm watching the goats belly's grow heavy and thick with kids, their udders filling with milk. I looked back at last years posts on goat kids this morning. Spring is: goat babies, collecting eggs for setting, bags of seedling mix and tinier bags of seeds, the smells of thawing manure, a warm day followed by a cold one and the sun; most importantly, the sun, full of promise and certainty.