Spring has returned to Wisconsin. Some trees are more advanced, but here is a bud on a magnolia tree. I recently met someone newly returned from Zimbabwe, where he had lived for several years. He said he certainly loved the lushness of tropical Africa, with the huge flowers and crazy birds, but there was something different about springtime in northern climes, where plants and animals return after a lengthy absence. Africa provides objectively more beautiful flowers than Wisconsin, but Wisconsin provides that special delight known as spring. The farther north you go, the more precious spring becomes, because winter in harsher.

So now it is spring in Wisconsin. We've had hot days and snowy days in the last two weeks, but winter has finallly given up the ghost. And that is a delight indeed.