Every morning this past week, I awakened before my alarm went off. With the days now perceptibly longer, the first light of dawn appears in the sky before the alarm sounds. Just as happens every year at about this time, I have been awakened by that first light of dawn, dim though it is. And, as usual at this time of year, I need significantly less sleep these days than I did in December and the first half of January, and my appetite is less. Best of all, my mood has perceptibly lightened with the increasing length of daylight. Even though they’re forecasting snow for Tuesday and Wednesday, it feels as though spring is getting closer.