There you are Spring, I have been waiting for you.

I have spent 18 winters in Wheaton, Illinois. If you are from the general midwest area, typically the Chicagoland area, you know that winters will kick your ass and hang you out to dry. I thouroughly believe that those who endure the nasty white windy winters come to appreciate the outside when it starts to get nice out. From December to March, the lack of UV rays penetrating these winter-goers is slim to none. Even when you have that one really warm day early in Spring (this year it was St. Patricks Day, an astonishing 75 degrees), you still are forced to look at the spindly, still dead trees. It almost is a buzzkill. To me, leaves equal summer. This past weekend it was in the 80's and 70's, uncharacteristically warm (but very welcomed) for late April. Couple the high temps with massive amounts of rain and voila! Spring has sprung. It seems that within the last week the trees are alive in a wash of green. Pretty little flowers start to burst out of the one deadened gray branches. I went out in my backyard to capture this looked over ceremonial passage into this much anticipated season.

"There is nothing like returning to a place that remains unchanged to find ways in which you yourself have altered. "

- Nelson Mandela