It may not seem like it, with the hail, snow and layers of ice on our cars in the morning, but spring is really here. And in spite of the frigid mornings of late, there are signs of it everywhere.

The Indian plum and red-flowering current are blooming. Chorus frogs are making their nightly music. Birds we don’t hear every day — varied thrushes, winter wrens, red-winged blackbirds — have clearly entered a new season; their songs are in the air.

Those of us who are fair-weather gardeners — who discover what’s in our beds anew each year, when our deciduous shrubs and perennials start to leaf out — have begun our annual treasure hunt, trying to discern which new growth is that beloved perennial we bought at the garden club plant sale five years ago, and which is a weed.

And some of us have gone so far as to begin dreaming about summer, the sweetest time of all on Vashon.

This is also when the pace of life at The Beachcomber — as if it weren’t fast enough — really picks up. We experience one special supplement after another during the spring and early summer months, making us busier than a robin with a clutch to feed.

This week’s issue is a case in point, with the publication of our Home & Garden section — a tribute, in large part, to the earthly beauty of Vashon. You’ll find it on pages 13 to 24.

Next up, the spring issue of Island Child, when we let parents know what summer camps and day care programs are available for children on the Island. And after that, the mother of all special sections, Destination Vashon, only to be followed a few weeks later by a perennial favorite (and a particularly tough one — you try chasing down 130 graduating Vashon Island seniors), the high school graduation supplement.

Spring is a time of renewal. And at The Beachcomber, it’s a time of frenetic activity. We’re pushing harder than usual, trying to offer up a weekly publication worthy of this fine Island while taking on the added work of publishing inserts that we hope will inspire, edify and delight our Island neighbors.

So if we sound a little short or harried, we ask for your understanding.

It may be that we’re trying to track down the last 20 members of this year’s graduating class, pushing to meet a deadline for Destination Vashon or scrambling to make sense of some preschool’s new offering.

It’s spring, and the world is very, very busy.