Sometimes the state of the world makes me weary. Man’s madness. Pandemics. Crappy weather. The long, cold winter.

Really, sometimes the knowledge that we are all eventually liberated from this planet is a blessing.

But then there are times when the smallest miracles of nature delight your soul, like when you see the first baby fly of the season. Yes, a fly! It was helping itself to the last drop of Irish cream at the bottom of an old Scottish shot shot glass on the deck table.

The early fly gets the good stuff, eh?

We tend to welcome the sight of these little creatures when they first emerge because we know then that spring is finally here. March 21 may be the calendar start of spring in this northern climate, but the fly’s spring arrives at the end of April, along with so much other life that has been dormant for the past six months.

This is the true start of our spring, too. We can finally say, with only a slight note of caution, that it won’t snow again until next November. We can emerge from our homes without boots and winter coats. And on a sunny, warmish April 30, we can sunbathe naked on the deck. Yes, we were so blessed this past Saturday.

Pretty soon, the peeper frogs will be peeping like crazy. And if we’re lucky — or unlucky, depending on how you look at it — we’ll soon get to hear last summer’s whip-poor-will again.

It’s all a welcome relief from the daily news about the woes of mankind.

— Jillian