After this cold winter, I want badly to believe it is. The azaleas along the drive that leads to Lovett Hall seem to be saying that spring is at least near. It’s a little late but they’re finally about to burst out:

I was happy to learn the other day that azaleas were first planted there a very long time ago, like most of our landscape the work of gardener Tony Martino. Here’s a piece on their genesis and their glory from a March, 1945 Thresher:

Bonus: Here’s a beautiful photograph of some campus fauna to go with the flora, courtesy of Campus Photographer Tommy Lavergne. This little dude looks rather concerned, as though he might be hearing one of those blood curdling screeches let loose by the hawks that circle campus.