The Growing Light

It is subtle, but the days are slowly getting longer.  The angle of the sun isn't tucked so far to the south, and it is rare that I do morning and afternoon chores in complete darkness, wandering the frozen yard by light of my headlamp.

The surest sign, though, that the days are growing more light, is the return of eggs laid by the ladies of the Little Coop.  Once again, I am collecting large speckled eggs and the occasional blue-green wonder from the nest box.  While the entire outdoor world is still frozen and icy, and presently small flakes of snow are drifting down from dull grey skies, I feel a thrill of spring when I find these little wonders waiting for me in their straw-filled nook.  More than the daily influx of seed catalogs into my mailbox and the shifting of the sun, it's the girls' daily march into the coop to lay a little egg or two after a long wintry hiatus that tells me the promise of Spring is in the air.