Signs of Spring?

It has finally started raining here.  It literally does not rain at all during the summer here.  3 months with NO rain at all.  All the rain comes in the winter months.  Now, what I read said it rains about 14 days a month, so not everyday, but still a decent amount.  I'm still trying to figure out out how that works with the boy's lunch tables being outside and having no gym, but maybe the CA definition of rain is like the Seattle definition of rain.   In Seattle, rain is any amount of moisture falling from the sky,  To a Midwesterner, it isn't rain unless you have to protect your head from the 50 MPH raindrops pelting you!  Apparently, this area is waaaay behind on rainfall, so the 4 or so inches we are supposed to get by Monday won't even make a dent in total rainfall for the year.  So far, rain here is variable.  All day yesterday, it was obviously raining outside because everything was soaking wet, but he rain was so fin you almost couldn't see it.   Or it can be like last night, it can rain and blow so hard I thought I was back in MN during a thunderstorm! 

So, last week-end I bought my rhubarb and asparagus starts.  I knew the rain was coming so I was pretty gung ho to get them planted before the rain started.  Nothing sucks more than trying to plant things in the mud or while it is raining.  The soil here is has a lot of clay in it, so if it got wet I can only imagine how fun it would be to try to actually plant something.  Ick!  I got it all done last Sunday and have been watching it this week to make sure that no nasty little critter attempts to eat MY rhubarb before it can get going.  Once it gets going, I am totally unconcerned, as the rhubarb will be more likely to eat the mole than vice versa.  I looked out the window this morning and wait a minute, is that a leaf? 

 Rhubarb leaves

Sure enough! It's getting leaves!  That shouldn't shock me, given that my rhubarb back in MN would come up before the snow had finished melting.   But good grief, it's January 21!  Then I noticed this guy sitting in the tree!

Robin

Then as I looked around the yard, I noticed about 3 other robins.  Truthfully, I have no idea if they even migrate here.  I tried looking it up, but it was sort of vague.  Maybe they have been here all along and I just never noticed them.  I don't recall seeing them before, but I wasn't looking for them either.  Then I was curious, is spring really starting already?  So I wandered around to the front of the house.   Here is what I found!

Buds on Maple tree

This is the one and only Maple tree I have seen in this part of CA.  Our landlord said they had to special order it from South Carolina or some such place.  It is the only tree that I saw that actually changed color and then lost it's leaves.  Some of the other trees did lose their leaves, but it was more because they dried out and fell off than a fall color change and leaf drop.  Most of the trees here are evergreen, although they don't look like they should be! 

So maybe this is the start of spring!  I know that I can start my garden outside in about 3 weeks, so I guess I shouldn't be surprised.  Guess I better get going on starting those seeds inside so I can be ready.  The growing season here is so long that you can get 2 crops out of most things.  Some things you can grow year round even!  It's a whole new world for me...