Beautifully Stated

The red-breasted robin is our state bird.  For the past week, it seemed that everyone I'd encountered had seen at least one robin but I had yet to see my first one of the year.  Then, lo and behold, as I was heading back to work from my lunch break on Friday, a solitary robin was at the foot of our driveway!  According to the State of Wisconsin's official website, this welcome sign of spring became our state bird after having been selected by school children in 1926-27.  The robin joins such other Wisconsin symbols as milk (the state beverage), the badger (the state animal), Forward (the state motto), "On, Wisconsin!" (the state song) and red granite (the state rock).  The sugar maple is our state tree and the wood violet our state flower.  How fortunate we are that children from 85 years ago had the vision to select the red-breasted robin as our state bird, for its presence brings beauty in both color and song.  Within a few weeks, we'll see an abundance of robins.  But last Friday, that single robin's welcome migration to our yard was a beautifully stated sign of spring.