Hope Springs Eternal

No school! Snow day! It was almost Valentine Day and we'd just experienced our first snow of the winter! It blew in blizzard-like just after bedtime, and the next morning there was a four to six inch layer of snow on the ground. The car was piled
high with snow, and dirty-white mini-Everests were scraped up by snow plows along the main streets all over town.

The children, emerging sleep-satiated from their bedrooms, pulled on gloves and coats, hopping on one foot to pull on a sock to fill a waiting boot. Then, scrambling for coats and gloves, they couldn't wait to build a snowman. Thanks to having some adult help, they managed to erect two snow people--one beside the driveway and one in front. The one near the driveway got knocked over by a car backing out, and the one in front wore a black bowler. The next time I looked out, the snowman had turned into a lady wearing a feminine hat. All part of the craziness that goes with our zany weather.

A few days ago we heard a severe weather warning in the middle of a perfectly beautiful, warm day. Not thirty minutes later, the sky was black in the west and suddenly I heard a noise like artillery fire raining down on the metal carport. I looked out to see a barrage of hailstones peppering the ground. The kids, getting caught in it, came in from the library drenched and screaming. "Why is the sky raining ice cubes?" the five-year-old shrieked.

But today, with Valentine's 10 days behind us, we took our first walk of the year through our favorite park and gardens. The weather was sunny and moderate, but windy with the premature winds of March! Nevertheless, the outdoors was beautiful. Signs of spring were peeking through as blades from flower bulbs were pushing up from the brown earth. A frolicsome squirrel hurried behind a tree trunk, only to peer down at us from a higher perch before he hid himself again.

I called hello to a woman who had been examining some growth at a flower bed. "Isn't it nice out?" she responded. We had been sitting in the gorgeous sunlight at a picnic table admiring the deep blue of the sky and enjoying the flutter of leaves blowing across the ground.

"I told my husband it is like heaven," I answered. That is what the perfection of the gardens always reminds me of, even in its winter beauty.

"Be sure and pick some parsley," she said, indicating a green bouquet in her hand.

"Thank you," I said, "I've always been afraid to pick anything down here."

"Well, I'm a Master Gardener, and I give you permission this time," she said, as I noticed that on her ID badge she wore.

Gathering a handful of the deep green herb, we headed home, the heady fragrance filling the car with its promise of Spring right around the corner!