WASHINGTON — Under the spring sun, something stirs. After a withering four-year winter, Democrats are dancing with the daffodils.

Days are longer and hearts are lighter on Pennsylvania Avenue, from the White House to the Capitol.

Now in power, Democrats are getting radicalized, in a good way. The nearly $2 trillion COVID-19 and stimulus bill, signed by President Joe Biden, was larger and more liberal than some dared hope. Now Biden has a $3 trillion infrastructure package in the works.

The turn in the wind is real. It's blowing anew in the season of hope and crossing over to freedom.

On Capitol Hill, Democrats are not trying to work with Republicans anymore after a bloody riot and two presidential impeachments. Especially in the House, Democrats look upon the 139 Republicans who aided the riot with distrust and disgust.

After the Jan. 6 Capitol siege by a pro-Trump mob, democracy can't be business as usual. Not after vicious violence that ended with a police officer dead and 140 casualties.

Winters framed the pandemic, which made life stark and plain. What counts, and who matters. Your friends and enemies are like yes and no. Simple as that. In the face of loss, we are all changed and sobered. Frills melt away.

That urgency is real in the People's House.

The Democratic majority is marching forward, passing bills to contain the American tragedy of gun violence in Boulder, Colorado, and Atlanta, Georgia, and expand the Affordable Care Act. They passed a sweeping voting rights bill, the For the People Act. They voted to restore legal status to the "Dreamers" who came to the country as children.

In a slap, the House repealed the Muslim travel ban, President Donald Trump's first act in office. Statehood for the District of Columbia — Washington has 700,000 residents — has a heartbeat.

House Democrats — with many women in white to honor the suffrage struggle — are taking steps to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment. The Violence Against Women Act is not far behind. The Equality Act for LGBTQ Americans was approved to send to the Senate.

Truth be told, Democratic caucus members must sprint to keep up with the energized House Speaker, Nancy Pelosi, who turns 81 on Friday. (Happy birthday, Madam Speaker). The California Democrat is the only woman in history to hold the top post.

Just days ago, Pelosi rose to speak on the Dreamers. "This issue is near and dear to my heart," she declared. "Three years ago, I came to the floor and spoke about our Dreamers for eight hours and six minutes."

Indeed, Pelosi did, when the House was red with foot soldiers to Trump. Growing up as the daughter of the Baltimore mayor, she brings the same bold spirit to the work in the minority or majority. She was radicalized against Trump all along.

The Speaker led the resistance to the former president, in private and public, during the long Trump winter. From the get-go, when he crowed he won the popular vote, she corrected him in person. He hated that.

Last June, Pelosi said to Trump's face, "All roads lead to Putin." She was the only woman at the White House table.

The best stand-up moment was when Pelosi ripped up Trump's speech right there on the dais after his State of the Union speech.

Nonviolent resistance trumps the mob.

How refreshing to see team spirit cross over to both chambers. Winning does wonders for morale.

Now, for the first time, Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., and Pelosi drive the trains in the Capitol.

Yes, from New York to San Francisco, East and West Coasts. We're not in Kansas anymore — or Kentucky, the home of Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell.

But the Senate could be mistaken for the slow boat to China. Democrats are weighing getting rid of the filibuster — a radical move — meaning that bills could pass by a majority vote. The Senate needs to stay in step with the House and the times.

As it is, nearly all bills require 60 votes to pass because of the filibuster. Senators are so evenly divided they can't get 60 to agree on anything. With Biden's blessing, that vestige may soon be let go.

Then Democrats may tiptoe through the tulips.

Jamie Stiehm may be reached at JamieStiehm.com. To read her weekly column and find out more about Creators Syndicate columnists and cartoonists, please visit creators.com.