Now that May is finally here, we hope that we’ve seen the last soggy snows and freezing temperatures of April (T. S. Eliot’s “cruelest month”). My wife and I spent much of our day outdoors yesterday, sawing up and clearing away the last of the broken tree limbs in the yard, repairing the damage to our chickens’ outdoor run caused by last week’s storm that brought more than a foot of heavy, wet snow. 

Chatting with our neighbors who were out doing similar chores, we shared a common, but uncertain hope that these “lasts” are truly the last we will see of springtime killing frosts and destructive weather.

But even better than brooding over the “lasts” of winter, is the fun of finding and pointing out spring’s “firsts.” There’s the first loon on the lake! There are the first spring peepers! There are the first snowdrops, first crocuses, and first daffodils! There are the first hawks and blue herons! 

Has anyone discovered the season’s first red eft, squirming around the vernal pools in the woods? When will the first irises and daylilies emerge? And when will the fruit trees open their first blooms?

One of the great things about counting firsts is the certainty — “that is definitely the first white-throated sparrow I’ve seen this spring!” — compared with the cringing hope of seeing the last frost before the peaches set their fruit. 

Is it really the last time we’ll have to bring in firewood for the woodstove this season? Mother Nature’s grab-bag of spring treats always seems to contain a few unwanted surprises, just like Harry Potter’s unfortunate “ear wax-flavored jelly bean.” Let’s look forward instead to the joyful “firsts”!