Well, the snowbanks have subsided from six inches above my neighbor's six foot high fence to about 18 incehes below and instead of three inches of ice on the sidewalks, we now have an inch of slush. But the male cardinals are singing their mating calls and the sparrows are using the mud puddle in front of my apartment building as a public bath, so it shouldn't be too much longer. Although, in Maine, those are always famous last words.