Mud season has arrived. The geese and ducks are laying lots of eggs, and a few brave daffodils are beginning to poke their heads through the still-solid soil.

Spring! Is there any better season?

Yes, there’s mud. Yes, there’s lots of tracking that mud into the house, and yes, there’s a big mess to clean up on the lawn, now that the snow is melting.

But isn’t it wonderful?

Although we experience this natural miracle every year, it never grows old. New life, new possibilities, new experiences — a whole new start.

My geese and ducks seem to be laying a record number of eggs. The hens and chicks plant is sprawling outside its rock barriers. The sins of the winter are now showing themselves in the form of “stuff” some people decided to toss along the sides of the roads. But all will be taken care of in due time.

The pileated woodpeckers have paired up and will soon drill their new homes in a dead or dying tree. The chickadees have arrived in mobs, and every now and then, we’ll see a summer bird who just couldn’t wait for the season to officially begin.

Coming up fast is planting the several varieties of tomatoes in peat pots on my lighted grow rack, then letting them grow large enough to put in the garden around the end of May.

Cleaning out the goose and duck coops and replacing the bedding are tops on the spring to-do list, as is repainting the kitchen and hallway walls, repairing some of the winter snow damage on the exterior of the house and a multitude of other chores I’d really rather not think about right now.

Because first, those tomato seeds must be planted in their pots and arranged under grow lights. Visions of dozens of jars of canned tomatoes lining my pantry shelves begin dancing in my head at this time every year.

Hopefully, this will be a better year for tomatoes than last year, which saw a late blight devastate many of my plants.

I wonder what new varieties of vegetables or flowers I will try this year — and how successful they will be. Heaven knows I don’t need to buy any more seeds — I have dozens of packets neatly arranged in alphabetical order in an old Bass shoe box.

Spring — a time for much to be done, but also a time to smell new life, to smell the unique aroma of this season, to anticipate a bountiful garden.

Although many lovely and fragrant flowers will appear throughout the next few months, the aroma of pure spring tops them all. It is the smell of promise — the smell of the delightful months to come.

Eileen M. Adams may be reached at petsplants@midmaine.com.