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Signs are all around us, intentional or not, obvious or otherwise.
The calendar offers an apparent one, reminding us that this weekend we spring ahead, moving our clocks forward one hour to welcome daylight saving time and more light to what have been dark days.
I'm good with that.
The ready-to-bloom daffodils in the back yard are a sure sign that they're ready to say it's spring, overly confident that warm weather is here for good or else they're confused by the lingering lack of winter -- speaking of which, it's been a bad season for sled sales around these parts.
Salt and shovels, too.
I won't complain that the driveway and sidewalks have barely needed any shoveling attention.
March can be mean, though, a force to be reckoned with. Let's not forget, after all, that this is the month in which 30 years ago we had the Blizzard of 1993.
And don't be frightened, but I believe it arrived on March 12.
Some signs are silly, a small but noticeable on-purpose one, for example, still taped to the wall of the downstairs bathroom near the porcelain throne.
Maybe it's Murphy's Law or something, but you never have serious household plumbing problems until you have company so if there is any way at all to stave off any would-be woes, best to offer some friendly operational advice. So the signs reads: "For optimum flushing, hold down the handle. Thank you. The Management."
There's a smiley face on there, too.
With that posted, I'm happy to report that we've had no "signs" of distress, no yells for assistance.
I'm good with that.
When I misplace something -- which doesn't happen all that often, just about every other day -- I take it as a good sign when I ultimately find it, including a business card I was frantically in pursuit of locating. turns out it had decided to hide between couch cushions.
When I found it, I took it as a sign that I wasn't completely losing my mind, a task left for some other day, some other time.
Last year I came across a cardinal bird feeder in a craft store and bought one at first for a friend but then went back and bought one for myself.
I returned to that store yet again and bought two more -- one of which I sent last fall to my sister Linda, the other to my sister Cathy. Mine is hanging from a kitchen window.
At the time, I had told my sisters that it's a sign of how blessed we are to be siblings, and that whenever we look at the cardinal, we'll think of each other.
And that I have done with an obvious element of sadness with Linda's death last month.
Now, the cardinal is not only a sign of a loss, but of sweet memories as well.
There were many who reached out to me and my family after her passing, sending some beautiful cards that brought great comfort.
Those signs of caring and compassion were greatly appreciated.