The Swallows Are Back - Spring Has Arrived!

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Photo above: today
Photo below: yesterday

The beginning of Spring officially may be March 20th or 21st, depending where in the world you live, but here on the north coast of California, it's the return of the swallows that marks the true turning of the season.

Morning opened its eyes at dawn today, looked in its closet, and decided, "Enough gray, already! It's time for some color, some sunshine, some warm air."

And so it was. And is. A warm, sunny, beautiful day with a clear sky so blue it sparkles.

A sky filling with swallows.

I've been marking the return of the swallows for a number of years and have never seen them up here before the 16th of March. As I woke up and saw the beginnings of a beautiful day and later felt the warmth in the air when I stepped outside, I thought of these delightful harbingers of Spring but put off searching the sky for them, thinking it was still too early.

Then I received an email from my neighbor: "The swallows have arrived! There are three of them in the sky!!"

I raced out of my office and there they were: Four, then five, scouts flitting and swooping around the house and shop crying, "Oh, look! There's Ted and Alice's nest!", and, "Look here, George, Bob and Carol's house is still in good shape. They'll be able to use it again!"

Swallows always talk in exclamation mode.

My neighbor, D, and I now declare that Spring has officially arrived today, March 11th. The swallows have made it so.

And boy are we glad.

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