I saw my first robin yesterday. I was on a back road and the plump little red breast started flying out of a field toward my car. I figured he/she would veer away, but no, he/she veered straight for my windshield. Fortunately my deceleration and his/her maneuverability averted disaster, but I can at least say I saw the first robin of spring.

I don’t know if that’s a good thing or a bad thing. Those who know me know I love winter … the whiter the better. So, when Mr./Mrs. Robin shows up, it’s a sure sign winter has ended 😦 and spring is at hand.

Those who know me also know I’m a four season guy — although I could do with less summer than any of the other seasons. But I’m all for spring. I’m ready for it. I even look forward to it {except for the allergies the budding trees bring}. It’s time to put winter in the rear view mirror.

Spring brings longer, brighter days — a welcome relief in upstate New York. It brings baseball, road trips without checking the Weather Channel, flowers and green grass. It brings days with temperatures slowly reaching up into the 40s and 50s and 60s with generally cool, comfortable nights. It brings a rebirth in spirit. It brings the singing of birds.

After spotting Mr./Mrs. Robin I checked my {okay, Karen’s} rose bushes. Most of them — each planted to recognize a grandchild, along with one for her and another for her mother — are already showing signs of buds … little green protrusions on still brown stems after just a few successive days in the 50s. They weren’t there last week when I checked.

So I’m looking forward to a string of sunny days so I can clean up the gazebo and bring out the wicker furniture. We may still be a month or so away from moving Karen from her spot on the mantle to her perch on a table in the gazebo overlooking her rose bushes and the evergreens, but now that Mr./Mrs. Robin has signaled the onset of spring, I can’t wait.

As Virgil Kraft said, “Spring shows what God can do with a drab and dirty world.”

THOUGHT TO REMEMBER: Behind every argument is someone’s ignorance of the facts.