Yet another harbinger of spring. Full-throated thunder. The rain that came down yesterday just after we returned from our afternoon ravine walk was heavy at times and at no time was it heavier than when we went up to bed, a veritable flood of cold rain drenching the atmosphere. And later, when we were in bed, reading before lights-out there it was, unmistakable in the distance.

Even more so as it approached and roared its near presence. Thrilling, nothing less. We both love the sound of thunder and always have. It is raw nature telling us that all is as it should be; rain is needed and here it is accompanied by its guardian, thunder. We did think of the raccoons on the porch but assume they're as accustomed to the sound as we are. Our two puppies, fast asleep, paid it no mind.

It's that time of year. When we think spring, immediately what we conjure to mind is pretty, colourful flowers, bulbs bursting with lovely forms and shades of bright hue. Trees springing into leaf. The change from drab to brilliant hardly noticeable. But actually, for people who live within nature it is very noticeable and it is hardly swift.

There is nothing particularly beautiful about the forest during the initial stages of winter-to-spring. All the snowmelt rushes into the creek and the creek runs thick with mud. There is mud underfoot as the forest floor reveals itself and its wonderfully thick layer of generations of fall-discarded foliage inviting new growth to feed on its plant-nutritious leaf-litter.

The snow stubbornly persists in its unwanted presence, itself littered all too generously with all manner of detritus, some of it beyond rude. Once the snow melts completely the forest floor will welcome and absorb it all as the base for all new plant growth. For now, it is simply messy and unattractive, making nature look like a very dilettante of a housekeeper.

Beauty lies in our expectation of everything in the forest springing back to life, with emerging wildflowers and foliage, each in their turn freshly surprising us once again with the delight of their extravagant presence. That is when the forest, fully installed in spring, will once again come into its own.