It is the first of May, and all around me are the sights of early spring blooms, tulips and fading daffodils. There are far too many healthy trees that still look like skeletons, with some pale green leaves finally emerging from their buds.
I can confirm that this lack of green is not my imagination from looking at photos from the past. Last year and most of the years before now, even when the temperatures dipped, by May the trees had burst into verdant splendor. Instead, it seems more like the end of March than the beginning of May in terms of the bloom.
There are signs on the ground that spring is here. Dandelions, albeit young and yellow, dot lawns and fields. The weeds begin to grow tall.
Soon the woods will be green again, but to see a skyline of sticks on 80-degree days and ample sunlight is a contrast.
