Sign of Spring?

This morning I spotted a robin in my crabapple tree! With the sunshine and blue sky, one could easily be fooled into thinking spring was at hand - as long as they didn't look at the thermometer. It was well below -10 in the sun, not including wind chill.  Normally we don't see any robins until maybe the end of February or early March, as they migrate back north to get ready for spring. It would be nice if spotting the robin meant that spring was at hand, but I seriously doubt that. I think he's probably the same robin I spotted on Christmas Day, sitting in the ice-covered crabapple tree. There was a whole flock of robins that day. I guess some are getting lazy and not bothering to go south for the winter. Well, they certainly picked a lousy year to stay here! It's the coldest winter we've had for over 25 years!  Even so, it was nice to see him! He's a reminder that no matter how bad or long this winter is, we will eventually get spring.