I opened the wooden blinds to my bathroom this morning to see our residence meadow populated with Stellars Jays and a covey of quail enjoying the bird seed we throw out for them. The birds are back and the nesting is beginning; soon we'll have long strings of baby quail dutifully following their parents through the meadows and down by the creek.

It's true that most of the snow is gone but it's been known to snow through parts of May, but pretty soon all thoughts of a cold, white ground cover will be replaced with images of the creek flanked by lush green plants of all varieties. Spring in the mountains is magical.