I walk a little farther each day, mostly in the neighborhood on sidewalks that are edged by lawns on one side and hell-strips on the other … hell-strips being those narrow bands of soil between the sidewalk and the curb. Although calling it soil might be a stretch, as it often appears to be exhausted to the point of being nothing more than dirt.

Nonetheless, plants will grow in even the most challenging conditions and the first signs of spring become more apparent each day. Some dandelions have been in bloom long enough to have already set seed heads. And yesterday I caught my first glimpse of what I think might be ajuga in bloom …

Likewise heralding spring, the birdsong has grown louder and more insistent with each passing day. Everything from the twitters and chirps of the true songbirds to the maniacal racket of the grackles filling the air with sound.

Cold nights alternate with an ever-stronger sun and though I begin my walks with sweatshirt zipped and hands in pockets, by the end I am warm through and through.

And so, a bit of thrift store cloth that reminded me of the neighborhood grid dotted with patches of green, a radiant-stitched dandelion as seen from afar and a tangle-of-purple flower as viewed up close … all shorthand for an early spring day.