It’s that time of year again, where the world tantalizes us with thoughts of green grass, sunlit meadows, and blue skies only to strike down our hopes with ice cold rain, buckets of mud, and a bitter wind that cuts to the core.  Oh, if only Spring didn’t have such a great PR agent!

Contrary to today’s comic, however, this weekend I avoided the nasty weather.  The lady and I visited the Morton Arboretum where we took careful note of the fresh sprouts in the earth and subtle signs of the earth waking up.  I also managed to snap a few reference pictures.

You might notice some resemblance between these shots and today’s comic panels.

This squirrel didn’t like the looks of me and ended up chasing me for some distance.

And finally, you might enjoy a little side drawing I’ve done in keeping with one of the many artistic memes floating about the Internet.  I’ve always loved doodling muppets on my scratch paper, and the opportunity to do a self-portrait was too much fun to pass up.  Enjoy!