forcing it

This weekend I decided to embark on the exaulted spring ritual of convincing detatched tree limbs that it's in fact warmer and springier than they realize. So I picked up a big bunch of what I believe are probably (and somewhat ironically) Japanese Quince branches. They weren't marked, I just thought they were pretty. And considering I saw the flowers, you can extrapolate how little work I would need to put into this endeavor. Even in their little refrigerated room at the florist, they had already set a ton of buds and launched a few open. And just a few days later, I have beautiful pink blossoms adding a nice little touch of newness and rebirth in my home.

Never mind that, after several near-70 degree days in the past month, we're awaiting another late season snow/rain storm and are experiencing temperatures around 15 degrees below average this time of year. Mother Nature is confusing everything around here.

Which just goes to show you, even out of our element and under difficult conditions - with the proper care and feeding - we can still flourish, bloom, and make our own little world a more lovely place.