How Many More Weeks of Winter?

I guess the groundhog was correct when he said we'd have six more weeks of winter.  The past few days have brought snow showers punctuated by the driving forwardness of spring.  I stepped out the back door this morning to photograph the powdery snow that had dusted the yard, when I found a surprise - several violets hunkering down under the miniature drifts.  These violets came from my neighbor across the street when she was cleaning out one of her beds and these had taken over.  They've hung on through two or three years of neglect.  I didn't remember them blooming so early.

We had such interesting snow today.  We had powder, pellets, floating down like dust motes in a sunny window.  We had large conglomerations of flakes falling heavily to earth.  We had sun that melted the snow as fast as it was accumulating.  We had blustery wind that made me think we lived up north somewhere, as it blew the snow sideways.  

Annika and I opted to walk to the library for storytime today, getting all cold and snowy but enjoying the fresh air and brief path through the forested greenbelt.  Annika mentioned how quiet and peaceful it is in the forest with the snow coming down.  I thought it was interesting she would notice such a thing.

We came back home to find a surprise on the doorstep - some Amy Butler notecards I won in a giveaway on CraftStylish a while back.

 I felt special to have something so fancy delivered to me. They are another reminder of spring on its way, no matter what color the ground is today.