A sure sign

    Who cares if Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow? For me the real bellwether of spring is

    the day the witch hazel starts blooming, and this afternoon the first strange little flowers on the tree began to unfurl.

    This morning won the booby prize for grossest moment of winter so far. There was nothing optimistic or very bearable about the combination of temperature, light, and precipitation that converged on Philadelphia today. It was god-awful, but like most awfulness it has passed, and now it feels like we’ve turned a corner. We just need to keep reminding ourselves that February is a short month and we’ll be fine, right?

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