Of daffodils and tanks

In the dead of winter all is cold, trees are bare and the world seems rather dead or at least very much in hibernation.

The days are getting longer in January, but spring still seems very elusive. The world in winter’s grip.

So it’s extra exciting to see those very first, ever so tender green shoots poke out of the cold ground. If far enough north, those might be snowdrops. A hardy little flower that will poke up while there’s still plenty of snow around. It just needs the tiniest amount of bare ground. Then it shoots up and unveils its small white flowers.

Snowdrops surrounded by snow

Here in the Southern US where I live, the harbinger of spring is the daffodil. A few warm days even in January and you’ll see slender green blades inch their way skyward. Next thing they thicken out and there are buds and you know it’s just not going to be that long before those blossoms pop out.

Daffodil buds as ice storm hits

An ice storm

But then it gets cold again. Even an ice storm, like we had a few weeks ago where everything was…