
The snowdrops:

The crocuses:

33 degrees and snowing.
The ice is melted back about two feet by the shore of Crystal Lake except for the thin, clear patches around rocks and branches. If you look out across the entire lake, its the right color for water but its still substantial ice with a rough surface. That makes it look almost like the water in an oil painting...the right color, almost the right surface texture, but unmoving.
I took these pictures at noon today on the walk we shared (Charlie came too!) while Andy was on his lunch hour from working at home. That was about four hours ago. The temperature now is 65 degrees! And its sunny! It won't look like this much longer!
They first poked up around the lingering snow almost two weeks ago but today, they are fully in bloom. And so welcome! Perfect on this beautiful sunny afternoon after a week of intermittent rain. While snow is not completely out of the realm of possibility for our area yet, these lovely little snowdrops are, for me, the declaration of spring!