Spring is officially here and you may have noticed a few changes this week while enjoying the outdoors. Much needed rain has certainly brightened up the landscape. In the countryside,  green wheat fields were shrouded by a cool layer of fog this morning. Eastern Meadowlarks sing ”spring is here,” while chorus frogs call from the wetlands. Dandelions and the hum of lawn mowers have returned to yards around the neighborhood. Trees are blossoming and small leaves show on the ends of branches. In a nearby woodland, a variety of mushrooms and ephemeral wildlflowers recently emerged from the leaf litter, and I saw the first butterfly of the season, a Red Admiral, sunning on the forest floor.