Posted on  04/06/09 at 12:02 AM

It’s been snowing outside all evening. But I’m not worried, because I’ve been carefully gathering evidence of the arrival of spring for the last month. All these photos except two were taken in and around my apartment building. The captions include dates so you can follow along through this tour of a Chicago spring wonderland.

These snow drops on a lawn on Ashland, half a block away, were the first signs of spring I photographed on March 15.

I found these green sprouts pusing their way through mulch three blocks away on March 17.

The Forsythia buds all burst out of one spot in the branch as if they’re all trying to fit out the same hole. Taken yesterday (April 4)

These Forsythia buds remind me of Yurtle the Turtle. They clearly got carried away. (April 4)

My neighbor Lisa calls these fair drops and their all over the lawn outside her window. (April 4)

Three Forythia buds all in a row (April 4)

These flowers are only about an inch wide, but they’ve got beautiful blue and white colors.

Even the thorns have buds.

And, of course, Spring isn’t complete without bunnies pouring green paint on eggs. Or is the egg crying green tears?

More eggs

Red Eggs

I’m offering a very special spring collection contest. The first person who leaves a comment (on The Mennonite, not Facebook) with the correct name of this flower will win a 8×10 print of their choice from my Flickr photo stream.