If you are like me, you go through winter with your head down trudging through the bitter short days wishing for the snow to melt, longing to catch your first glimpse of spring growth – snowdrops and crocus pushing through the frozen ground – finally to be awoken one morning by a sound, both familiar and not.

Is it the Cardinal that resides in the cedar hedges year round?

It could be, or is it?

Emerging from your slumber, you hear it again. You know the call but when did you hear it last? You pause for one more reminder.

It calls again.

Your memory clears. Could it be?

You rush to the window to search for the source.

He sings, it seems just for you and you spot him – your first Robin of the season!

Excitement and relief are one as you exhale and welcome the coming of Spring; not by the date on the calendar but by nature’s on-going rhythm.

Spring has arrived once again with its promise of warmer days, longer afternoons, light rains, and spring blossoms.

Announcing its arrival are the migratory birds’ sweet songs.  Each distinctive by species but all with the same message:

“It’s Spring! It’s Spring! I’ve arrived to spend the summer with you!”

But there is nothing like the sound of a Robin: The Heralder of Spring.

As spring turns to summer, the Robin’s cheery song weaves its way into your day and uplifts your spirit almost un-noticed.  From first morning light when they gently draw you from your dreams to dusk when they are settling in for the night, they provide a soothing melody accompanied by the crescendo of rustling leaves on a breeze.

Some birds have squawks that immediately draw your attention, and being awakened by one can set your day off with annoyance.  Others, in a panicked scream for aid, call attention to an unwanted visitor to the yard.

But there is something about the Robin that I have always found soothing and special.

Perhaps it is because they are a seasonal inhabitant to my neck-of-the-woods.  As one of the first migratory visitors, they signify an end to long cold dark days with the promise of Spring’s inevitable arrival.

Soon the buds will appear on branches, the first shoots will push through the barren soil and life will replace the slumbering landscape.

They are a welcome friend whose absence I don’t realize I have missed until once more I hear its song.

I am both envious and sorrowful for those who experience the Robin as a year-round resident: envious of the daily pleasure of its sweet aria yet sorrowful that without its absence perhaps it is under-appreciated.

The excitement I feel each Spring is innate and childlike.  I am anxious to watch for all the ‘firsts’ – the first lady bug, the first bumble bee, the worms that emerge with the rains.

My family each marks a day on the calendar when we guess the first hummingbird will come to our feeder. We anxiously await his arrival and record it boldly when he does.

But it is the spotting of the first Robin, whether by the sight of its destinctive red breast or the recollection of its cheery chirp,  that truly signals Spring’s arrival.

Open the window to your world and listen for the sounds that you perhaps take for granted – the wind, the rain, the laughter of young children…

Appreciate the feelings of joy as their songs add to the soundtrack of your life.

Share below the sounds that enhance your life’s soundtrack.

Video credit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UwnhwF9_x2Y
Photo credits:
crocus: photo credit: <a href=”http://www.flickr.com/photos/puzzler4879/6788912089/”>Puzzler4879</a&gt; via <a href=”http://photopin.com”>photopin</a&gt; <a href=”http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.0/”>cc</a&gt;
Robin:photo credit: <a href=”http://www.flickr.com/photos/goellnitz/4325617159/”>thelearnedfoot_</a&gt; via <a href=”http://photopin.com”>photopin</a&gt; <a href=”http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/”>cc</a&gt;