Spring?

With great anticipation, we're looking forward to the coming week that will have springlike temperatures here in North Carolina!  The winter has been brutal, as anyone in the United States knows, and I know we can't complain about our winter when compared with what others have endured, but it has been snowy and very cold, and we don't usually experience that.
I moved here from Connecticut in November of 2004, the weekend before Thanksgiving.  When I left Connecticut, the trees had long since shed their leaves, and the daytime temperatures were only in the low to mid 40's.  It was in the low 70's here the Sunday I moved into my apartment, and the leaves were still on the trees.  The first January I lived here, we had two weeks of well above average temperatures, which caused the flowering trees to bud out, but the return of cooler weather stopped that quickly.  We did have one small -- very small -- snow event that year, but when it came down, all of the schools dismissed early and businesses closed, and the greatest gridlock ever seen was experienced.  People literally spent 8 hours getting home, and many didn't make it.  The roads had not been treated with brine prior to the snowfall, and the traffic moving slowly over 1/2 inch of snow turned it into a sheet of ice.  The salt trucks got stuck in the gridlock, too, so it was a situation unlike anything anyone here had ever seen.
But SPRING is on the way.  My tulip and narcissus bulbs are poking through the soil, which is still frozen about an inch or two down.  The lily bulbs are pushing through, too, and the buds on the Star Magnolia are swelling with anticipation of exploding.  Birds of every sort are still feeding frantically at my feeder, gorging themselves on their favorite seeds at my expense, but I don't mind.  The pleasure I receive from watching them is certainly worth it!  The day lilies (I think we have 12 - 15 varieties) are showing green growth in the midst of their spent foliage; mounds of new growth appear around the base of the chrysanthemums and the verbena; and tiny, reddish leaves are appearing on the rose bushes.  Soon, I'll put out the short strands of yarn left over from projects, place it in a nylon bag, and hang it in a tree for the birds to use in their nests.  The yarn makes colorful nests and makes them easier to spot, but most importantly it gives the birds strong fibers to use in their nests. 
The temperatures are predicted to be in the low to mid 60's all week with the forecast of seeing mid 70's next Saturday and Sunday.  Today, my husband and son will begn to powerwash our house, which has changed color from a straw yellow to a yucky, greenish yellow in spots - thanks to the summer humidity!  Other jobs in preparation for summer include replacing the screen on the 6-sided gazebo, which I'm still trying to figure out how to do that; adding more mulch to the gardens (where did the 15 cubic yards of mulch go that we put out 3 years ago?); killing all of the weeds that are sprouting where the Zoysia grass has yet to grow; leveling and installing a concrete patio pad in our shade garden on which to put the park bench; and the list goes on and on!  But the work is good for our souls and for our bodies!
I've already started my heirloom tomato plants from seed -- 600+ of 23 varieties!  Why?  Because I sell them to others who like the character and flavor of the older varieties.  I have 2 large grow mats (which hold the seed trays and warm them) and grow lights for the seedlings.  My brussel sprouts are also up, and they'll go in the ground as soon as they become large enough to transplant. 
The natural world -- as well as people -- seem to come alive with the promise of Spring!  God has ordained the seasons in Genesis 8:22:  "As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will never cease."  I don't know about you, but that verse gives me assurance that SPRING WILL COME and that winter will not last forever.  Take courage, you Northerners!