The only way to stay sane through a snowy spring is to never, never fall into the trap of thinking that snow = winter. This is spring snow. How to tell the difference? There’s green stuff underneath. I know, I know, it’s pathetic, but judging the seasons by greenness rather than by snowfall is a much saner approach in Calgary.
I now have four kinds of flowers in bloom. I can’t see them, because yesterday’s snowfall hasn’t melted yet, but I know they’re there. Snowdrops, not-snowdrops (leucojum), the first muscari (tiny blue), and hepatica blooms that are playing shy in the cold, waiting slightly closed until the warmth returns.
Forsythia buds are fat, there are tiny leafies-in-waiting on the cotoneaster, and shoots of green in the grass (well insulated under a blanket of fresh snow). And I’ll be cooking with garlic greens this week. Because it really is spring. Really.
Feather Brain has been reprinted – this is the fourth print run. The cover is a little darker, and a little glossier. I’m thrilled, and speculating this is related to Feather Brain being picked as the June book club pick for the Ontario TV show Reading Rangers.