Finally, Signs of Spring!

It's a trick, of course. Tomorrow it's supposed to snow--though not enough to stick, thankfully. Last year the ground was covered in fresh snow the third week in April, and my neighbor just told me it actually snowed in May last year, something I must have blocked from my memory because it was so horrifying.

Still--today was one of those days in Montreal that gives you hope that maybe, at some point, it might really be spring.

There were living things popping up out of the ground:
And much of the snow is melted; the snow mountains could last for quite some time:
There were bicycles, tricycles, chalk drawing, and hopscotch:
The stumps in the natural playscape are peeking out, reminding us of the fun to be had down there when the last of the snow finally seeps into the ground:
And there are some new signs of spring indoors. We made a $1.99 impulse buy today, a blue hyacinth from the nursery down the street:
And we have basil! The first signs of what will hopefully be batches and batches of frozen pesto:

Phew! I wasn't sure how much longer I could deal with winter! I know we'll still be back and forth, back and forth, but we're finally creeping toward the edge of the cold, dark winter. How silly I was when I thought to myself in the end of January, "well, this winter has actually gone by pretty quickly."