Longing for Spring

It's February 4. Happy Groundhog's Day. Happy Super Tuesday. Happy winter/snow/cold.
Ok, I confess. I'm tired of it. Maybe it's just my mood today but I am already starting to do spring cleaning. I'm getting cabin fever. The kids are antsy and I need them to go outside and run, not trudge through snow. My 5 year old (we call him Train) and I had hot chocolate yesterday after shoveling our meager 2 inch snowfall, and not even that got me back in the winter spirit.
I need spring.
I yearn for that smell - the smell of damp yet warmer mornings where the snow is melting and everything is just wet. I need sunshine. Sitting inside in front of a large window with my face to the sun is losing it's appeal. I need to putz around outside. I need to feel dirt and grass under my feet. I need seedlings of precious plants. I need my kids out of the house. Enough said.
Not just warm weather, mind you, but all the necessary accompaniments to spring. Melting, budding, trickling, greening. Lighter clothing too. I've had it up to here with trying to make the baby wear hats and mittens. We get in the car and within 10 seconds she has her boots and socks off. I've given up already.
In the spirit of spring and my longing for it, I present to you my peppers. This one's the purple sweet pepper and last count had 23 peppers growing on it. Last fall when all the plants starting dying off, these peppers still held a lot of life. My husband thought it was a shame to just toss the plants so he brought them in to our kitchen. We have a huge east facing front window in our kitchen with a large shelf above the sink. The plants have survived (there are 2 huge pots) and we've not bought a single pepper all winter. We have green, red, orange, yellow and purple. It's so cool. We have a taste of summer - fresh sweet peppers to eat and big plants to look at while I wash dishes. I can't wait to see what happens when they too get to return to the outdoors.