What birth date would you choose?

Would you want to be born in early spring? To feel the first rays of spring sun? To taste the first sprouts of green grass? To romp in the last wet snowfall of the season? Or would you choose late spring, when the pastures provide a soft warm blanket of green, when the ground is firm, and much of the mud gone? Last year, we chose early spring -- March 25 -- as the beginning of lambing season. Esther, the ewe, either ignored the calendar or became impatient or, like her mother, was contrary, and delivered a few days earlier. This year, hoping for a little less mud and a little more pasture, we selected April 16. We know there's no guarantee that nature will give those lambs a sunny, warm welcome. After years of planning birth dates, we know that nature, as always, has the final say.