Its Not Pretty, But...

While this sure looks like cobwebs, it is unlikely that Manitoba has a spider so hardy she burrows under the snow spinning her webs at -35. It is mold. Snow mold. It is not a big danger but the sooner the ground is dry enough to be raked, the better to get some air in there and get the dead stuff out.
The streets feel particularly empty without the massive piles of snow along the curbs and 3 feet of snow spreading across the lawns as far as the eye can see. There is noticeably more space here now. I do not expect seasoned Winnipeggers to notice it in the same way but for a recently transplanted Torontonian, it makes a difference.Underneath the back spruce we have a winter's worth of accumulated bird feed detritus. Aside from the bird seed a tree this size loses lots of needles and even some small branches over the course of the winter and you can tally them all come spring; 6 months of natural decay laid out before you on a white blanket is not anything we got to see in Toronto. A unique measure of the passing of time.
With a few flying insects making their appearance and plenty of geese overhead & ducks in the river, and the thermometer not even dipping below zero last night for the first time, I declare that spring has officially arrived in Winnipeg. 
How do you officially recognize spring where you are?