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It is March, and a Cowdog’s Spring! In fact, they say there are three official starts to Spring.
First, Solar Spring is high encouragement that things will turn around soon. You may still be knee-deep in snow, but you will at least have more daylight to enjoy. Most of the U.S. gains 15-20 minutes of daylight per week! 
There is meteorological Spring that starts on the first of the month. This goes for 3 complete months, and makes historical comparisons easy for meteorologists.
Then we have the Astronomical Spring, in which the start and end dates of spring are based on the changing position of Earth in relation to the sun, causing equinoxes and solstices. In the Northern Hemisphere winter ends and spring starts at the moment of the equinox, which occurs every year between March 19 and March 21.
But there is also, and more importantly, a Cowdog Spring. Also known as Heeler Spring. Here, that can be crazier than a cat in a patch of catnip or a Heeler on the tail of a bunch of wild cows.
We are teased by sunny days in the fifties, only to wake up to a merciless winter again. March is the most capricious of months, mixing it up by the hour. It can be a wild swing of 50 degrees or more – rain, snow, ice.
This could be the start of gentle and gradual easing of an icy grip.
If I were a betting dog, however, I’d go with a few more feet of snow. Around here, March and April are known as the highest snowfall months. Just yesterday, on the verge of “wearin’ o’ the green”, we had a nasty blizzard!
Heeler Spring means new smells in the wet dirt and old grass. The sun melts out all kind of surprises, old treasures held in ice, now new.
There is poop, grass, old bones and even winter-killed carcasses. There are many gifts for the happy, active nose. It is the joy of NEW.
A Cowdog’s Spring means new footing, fresh breezes through my winter-matted coat, and sudden storms while I earnestly try to get through the snow that still buries my creek bottom and favorite pastures.
I don’t like the mud between my toes,
but sure enjoy a good truck ride, and I love more daylight! 
Suddenly, all the outside comes alive.
Those infernal turkeys strutting, gobbling and fighting in my yard,
more deer shedding and begging for scraps of hay and chicken feed,
more eagles circling overhead.
To quote the old cowboy crooner Ian Tyson, ” Magpies ganging up everywhere!” It is the anthem of Spring and you can listen to it here: https://amzn.to/3HHFSLX
It is great to lay on the porch without freezing my old joints into stiffness, but still good to rest easy at night inside. Mom has seeds started all over now. Tiny green shoots promise tomatoes, peppers and flowers soon.
That is a sure sign of a Heeler’s Spring – utter anticipation. 
A cowdog Spring is all optimism. 
Of course we love St Patrick’s Day, which some Heelers celebrate, even without Collie blood in their veins.
Pretty sure I won’t dress up, but look at the neat outfits for wearin’ of the canine green: https://amzn.to/3Kkf9XH
Yes, plants, sun, grass, new life all spring forth in Heeler Spring.
“In the Spring, at the end of the day, you should smell like dirt”
Happy St Patrick’s Day, and Happy Heeler Spring!
