The sun is shining.

The sun is shining today, and my office is actually hot, since the windows are south-facing.

The daffodils are starting to bloom, and the forsythia is definitely yellow. Maybe I'll survive another northern winter after all. The hyacinth is showing, I've put the rosemary (that's for remembrance) back outside, and I've begun to hack back the butterfly bushes that are noxious weeds in this part of the world, but pretty all the same.

Thanks for all the kind comments and support when I fell off the "no whining" wagon. Chin up! Shoulders back! It's a new day and the sun is shining.

wrong again.

This is as predictable as the seasons themselves. I think I'm prepared for the vagaries of what passes for four seasons in this part of the world ("aren't we lucky", people say, "to have four complete seasons to enjoy" while I fume to myself) and then I find out that I'm not. I'm as vulnerable as I was my first "spring" away from home when I realized to my horror that what I thought was normal weather for March, was actually normal weather for June here.

So today is the day when I am not fit to be around. I'm stomping around like a two-year old, and I'm just plain angry and frustrated that it's cold outside. I know its childish, but I can still be reduced to tears by this. I'm trying not to whine, I really am. I'll be better tomorrow. But for today, just give me a little space. I just want to be warm. I am heartsick, I am lonely, I am depressed. I just want to be warm.

7:16

Despite what the calendar says, this is the vernal equinox where I live. The sun rose at 7:16 and set at 7:16. Tomorrow there will be more daylight than darkness, and the temperature should reach the mid 60's. Birds are singing and the tulips are pushing up. This is the year a new tree in the front yard should make its presence known ( first year sleeping, second year creeping, third year leaping!) and the forsythia is getting red-tipped, which is what it does just before leafing.

Ahh. Spring is here at last. We may have a blast of cold, and I still have to bundle up for the 5:00 am dog walks, but spring is definitely here.

Hurray!