Crocuses

My friend Jen told me that the crocuses are beginning to pop up; she reported that one lawn on the street leading over to the darling little campus observatory is a riot of crocuses in bloom. So this morning, early, I set out to investigate.

Instead of walking my usual route up and down Seminary Street, from my shabby end to the university president's grand end, I zigzagged on a different route over toward the observatory. When I got to the crocus street, at first I didn't see any crocuses at all. I knew they couldn't have died and disappeared already. I thought maybe they were asleep for the night and hadn't yet awakened to the sunrise. But surely there would be some sign of them, somewhere, even if their petals were folded tight and not yet reopened to the sun.

Then, there they were! Masses of them, all tiny, all purple, covering an entire lawn. They were definitely still getting used to its being morning, but it was lovely to start my day as they started theirs.

It's really been a mild winter here in Greencastle: one snow of a couple of inches, one freezing rain that left my car encased in ice that melted by the next day, a couple of cold patches where I was grateful for the big puffy coat I bought for six dollars at the local Goodwill. Nothing more than that. So I'm not sure that we really deserve spring yet.

But I'll take it anyway.