Marking Spring

Some say, not so fast!

The forsythia, reluctantly,
pushes out
its bright yellow petals,
marking what many consider
the start of Spring.

Forsythia blooming in early Spring in Ohio.

Some say, not so fast,
not til two or three 
more frosts
have past.

Maybe that's
just an old wives' tale
or some farmers' opinion,
depending upon 
their experience
and how their luck 
with the weather's been.

Regardless, it's not long
before the bountiful white blossoms
of the serviceberry and crabapple,
flowering dogwood
and stinky Bradford pear trees,
explode along the road sides
and side yards
and river banks,
brightening those dreay gray
season changing days
in the Midwest.

Flowering service berry tree in Westerville, Ohio.

Surely someone's
counting this morning's
as one of those frosts
just past the earliest clusters
of flowers on the forsythia,
the light dusting of snow
on the rooftops 
and backyard patios,
but other than the randon readers
of The Farmer's Almanac
or a few old country wives,
who's counting?