There comes a day every year…

& though I know its coming, it always takes me by surprise. And so it was this morning. I rolled over & opened my eyes. I yawned to stretch my dreams away & as soon as soon as 11 brain cells were functioning…I felt it.

Maybe you did too?

The worms are moving.

Before you say  “Euwww” & click away, let me share this…

I know..

freezing temps,

snow covered earth,

& frozen ground.

But if you were very still this morning… if you closed your eyes & held your breath, you could feel them begin to move.

Deep below the snow-crusted surface, the worms are waking. As old as dirt, they know things we don’t. They sway with the rhythms of the seasons, dance with the earth spinning around the sun, & celebrate the coming warmth. The perfect harbinger of things to come, worms know the cycle that brings us spring. Maybe not today or tomorrow but as surely & irrevocably as their journey back to earth’s warming surface.

The worms are waking.

Some making plans to rise up into the first spring rain,

image compliments of http://www.lonestarcandlesupply.com

some marking time until they cultivate our gardens

& some counting the hours before they offer themselves up as bait for the fisherman’s hook.

cartoon compliments of http://www.casualfurday.com

The worms are waking.

In their small, slow, silent way, they remind us to take heart in these last frozen days, calling us to prepare for the inevitable return of robins, daffodils, & mud.

Yes… I know there’s still snow on the ground & ice on the lake. I know the thermometer still reads “cold” & the calendar says its still technically winter.

But take heart –  if you sit quietly, breathe slowly & listen carefully, I tell you the worms are waking.

Me…I’m off to find my fishing pole!!!