They quickly vanished when cold returned, but just seeing them made a difference. They said we were moving toward the time of butterflies and violets and wood frogs. We don't keep livestock so we don't have hay, and we don't actually need the firewood to survive, but if the stacks are holding up, I feel confident about outlasting winter. About now, I might hear it on agreeable days. The song sparrow and mockingbird and cardinal also burst out in brief songs every so often now.
Squirrels are already as interested in chasing one another as they are in raiding the bird feeders.
That's another sign. I check buds on the apple tree and the dogwood. Those buds are wrapped tightly, and will remain so for weeks to come, but the mere fact that there are buds is reassuring. Ironically, the buds that appear most ready, even now, are on the rhododendron and the magnolia, both late-bloomers. But we have made it past December and January, past Groundhog Day.