Spring in the air at 22 below?

My surprise knew no bounds as I crossed my back door threshold into the great outdoors. I just did not expect it--that in the middle of performing the weekly drudgery in setting the trash at the curb for pickup, I would be treated to a delight of the senses. I stop short on the stoop. The sun is fiercely bright. According to the radio, we are still in a wind chill WARNING until noon today. Hundreds of schools across Minnesota are either closed or 2 hours late. Wind chills were 50 below zero range yesterday morning. (Trust me. That is mighty cold.)

I just did not expect it. And yet clear and distinct were the courting calls of the cardinals. “Tweet, tweet” back and forth they go, two of them, one near and one a bit distant. The one near calls out with an almost immediate reply back from the other somewhere farther. I try to find them but am unable to spy in the treetops for the blinding sun just coming up over the neighborhood roofs. I gradually become aware of all kinds of critter activity. Other birds are chattering away and flitting about. Three squirrels emerge one by one out of the hole in the giant oak out back. (I do not know how they all fit in there. I once took a stick to test the depth. The hollow inside did not seem so roomy.) This is January? Yes, indeed! And the wildlife seems to inherently know that a thaw is on the way, just as the weatherman predicts middle 30’s by middle of next week.