Someone I know is about to travel to a faraway country. It will be cold there, she said, so she’s taking lots of warm clothes.

For a minute this confused me. Warm clothes? Winter? I had almost forgotten them.

Yesterday our daffodils finally bloomed. Finally is a funny word to use about spring at the end of February. But the buds have been full to bursting for a couple of weeks now. So “finally” is what it feels like.

I want to protect these early flowers, the frost-nipped tulip tree, the shy, early-blooming cherry. But all I can do is watch and hope. The daffodils are sturdy, though, so I have more confidence in them. Which also means more joy.