As March came in like a lion, I anxiously wait for the signs of Spring that are so familiar. When the grandchildren were young, we went outside as soon as it was comfortable. By comfortable I mean we had to wear jackets, but we could comfortably sit outside to eat our lunch.

Many lunches were enjoyed by the little café table that sits on the upper side of my porch. There were only two chairs, but we could pull up extra ones depending on who was there. Yes, we ate with our jackets on, but it was so nice to be outdoors enjoying sandwiches and chips.

First, we would have a snack out there. The children came early because their parents went to work. They needed something to tide them over to lunch. I had sippy cups so that was not a problem. They could have something to drink as well.

I anxiously await the time when I can comfortably take my coffee outdoors each morning. It is so nice to listen to the birds. The crows that have moved in are another matter. I hear them early and they make a lot of noise. The birds I want to hear are the songbirds. Yesterday I did see some birds sitting on my birdfeeder. I think they were sparrows but I am not sure. I just got a glimpse before they flew away.

I have been seeing turkeys. There have been as many as twenty-five of them at a time. They roost in a small tree. It looks so funny to see four or five of them sitting on the thin limbs.

Coffee on the porch is my favorite time of day. I get up early so I am waiting for the sun to come up early enough. Yes, Daylight Savings has begun, but it is now darker each morning. I get up about six at the latest. That is my favorite time of day. I like to see the sun come up.

My porch is big. It wraps around three sides of the house. I can always find a spot to sit to be out of the weather. The family used to have a lot of picnics too. Even when it was raining, we found a spot to sit.

Back in the day when I was hanging my wash outside, I had a clothesline strung back and forth on the porch. That way the weather did not play much of a part in getting them dry. I hung clothes out all winter. That is when I would take down the coveralls and stand them frozen in the corner to thaw out. Once they thawed, they slid down and I could put them on the indoor drying rack.

One summer we had a foreign exchange student. Christophe loved to sit on the porch. He often sat in my rocking chair reading a book. I tried to get him to write a letter to his parents while he sat out there, but he would have no part of that. Eventually, he did send off a letter so they knew he arrived and was safe.

What he really wanted to take home to his parents was a rocking chair like I had on the porch. That was before Cracker Barrel had them boxed up to transport. We had a hard time finding something made in the U. S. A. for him to take home. He finally settled on a pewter bread dish made in Pennsylvania. As I put this together, I wonder if his parents were happy with his purchase. I also wonder if he still has that dish.

One year I gave Dick a swing for the porch. My son helped me put it together. Dick did not get to really enjoy it very long, but he enjoyed it that summer. He did not like sitting in the chairs because they were too hard, He lost a lot of weight and so he had little padding.

In the years that Don and I were married we spent many nice days on our porch with the dogs. Snaps has never liked to be outside very long, but if he could sit in Don’s lap, he was all set. Micah on the other hand loved to be outdoors – often laying in the sun on the driveway.

I looked up in my diary to find when to expect the crocuses. It is late this year. One year they were out on February 24, but this year the yard was snow-covered on that date.

I saw a chart showing the snow in Anchorage, Alaska on February 28. This year they had none, but some years they had as much as 30 inches. There were three dates since 2000 that they had no snow.

I know the crocuses and daffodils are there. When they will appear is your guess. I am hoping to see them soon. This has been a long winter, but at least we had no record snow or low temperatures!

Ann Swanson writes from her home in Russell. Contact her at hickoryheights1@verizon.net.