At last!

The sun is shining and we are enjoying our second consecutive 70-degree day since October. It didn't warm up gradually - remember we had snow and cold right through Wednesday. So this is a Big Deal, and people are relishing the little things...working next to an open window, sitting outside with an iced tea, putting away the down coats and fur-lined boots.

The only green in the landscape is evergreens, but in our hearts, there is light and warmth and rejoicing, and to me it feels a lot like this image.

And speaking of "At Last," here is a favorite version by the late Eva Cassidy.

Turning point

Spring is coming, and it took another late-April snow storm to make me believe it.

On Tuesday, for the second time in a week and third time this month, we woke up to a snow-covered landscape. Unlike previous gloomy grey snowy days, this time the sun came up and transformed everything into a breathtakingly brilliant Winter Wonderland. 

I grabbed a camera, but we had some errands to run. By the time we were in Como Park, I looked through the lens and saw...melting. The trees and shrubs were rapidly losing their lacy outlines. As we got home, the tree shown here was shedding little clumps of snow that plop-plop-plopped as they hit the ground. Several plopped onto my head, and as they trickled down my forehead I somehow knew that winter was saying goodbye.

Yesterday we made it into the 50s. They tell us it will be in the 70s this weekend. And in our backyard, a small clump of tulips has just broken through the surface of the ground.

Spring is on the way!