Last week saw the end of winter with ice-out on our Minnesota lakes.  This week we plunged head-first into almost-summer (oops – where was spring?) with green grass nurtured by light rains and warm sunshine.  The birds have been singing early in the mornings and there are daffodils and crocus showing off their colors amidst all the burgeoning green. 
Last month I posted a photo of the magnolia tree that is outside our front window.  At the time the tree had buds and looked rather gangly.  She has now come into her prime, graced with large white blossoms, hiding the softest of pinks near the blossom base.  It is a joy to see the white petals shimmer in the early morning mist, and then turn almost translucent as the sun reflects off them later in the day.  It is one of the short-lived joys of spring that graces our transitioning landscape prior to the arrival of summer.