This little Wee Wonderfuls snail is emblematic of the coming of Spring in the mountains of Creel, Mexico. Pokey. Brown, tan, and a bit of blue sky. Each day I look outside and hope to see evidence that the green leaf fairy has worked her wonders on the bare-bones branches of the trees in my front yard, but I think she's busy greening up in other locales. North Carolina, for example. I'm just crossing my fingers that she'll migrate south sometime soon, as I'm not moving quite yet. Yes, I'm getting a bit weary of all the brown. In times like these, it's wise to reflect on all of the quiet going-ons beneath the dull veneer.

Harshness vanished. A sudden softness
has replaced the meadows' wintry grey.
Little rivulets of water changed
their singing accents. Tendernesses,

hesitantly, reach toward the earth
from space, and country lanes are showing
these unexpected subtle risings
that find expression in the empty trees.

~ Rainer Maria Rilke, "Early Spring"