Spring?

This morning, as I was coming back in the house after dropping Tommy off at school, I was greeted by a Sandhill Crane. It flew low, right over the house, calling all the way, then landed in the swamp between my house and the winery.

It took a minute to register (it was quite early after all). The first crane of spring!

Y'know it really hadn't felt like spring at all this morning -- at least to me. I had to argue with Tommy to wear a real coat over his light sweatshirt (did he know something I didn't? Nah.). At 25 degrees, with a 1/2 inch layer of frost on my car, it seemed pretty wintery.

But who am I to argue with a Sandhill Crane, freshly arrived from the south? The first glimpse of spring has come to southern Michigan.