I woke up this morning, looked out the window, and thought, "Boy, there was a hard frost last night. I didn't think it was *that* cold."

Then I blinked. Rubbed my eyes. Noticed that the white frosting outside was considerably thicker than frost. Then I noticed the snowflakes drifting down from the sky.

I'd actually been thinking yesterday that I felt kind of cheated, since this was going to be the second winter in a row that was completely without snow here. I love snow. More to the point, I love snow days, excuses to drink hot tea and watch it snow outside, and skip work entirely.

Unfortunately, it didn't stick, so I ended up going to work anyway, alas. It hasn't been a bad day so far, though, and I've been pretty productive.

(I'm having a hard time being grumpy today. Heh.)

Snow is one of those weird things I have a love-hate relationship with. I love the way snow looks when it first falls. It coats everything with a blanket of clean white and it's just plain pretty.

However, I only like snow for a few days at a time. Winters in Iowa were snowy and bitterly, achingly cold for months and months on end. That's when snow ceases to be fun and becoms an obstacle, something to be dealt with, driven through, an indication that spring is as far away and as unattainable as the moon.

But at the same time, it's just not winter without a good snowstorm or two. Seattle comes to a screeching halt at the first sign of accumulation. People just stay home.

Th snow stopped a few hours ago and what accumulation there was has long since melted away. Personally, I'm going to go to the Garden Show tonight and get a good dose of green and growing things. I have a lot to plan for the garden and not a lot of time to do it in, and I'm hoping the garden show will give me ideas.

[as a matter of fact, i ought to leave now. back later.]

So, in a word, the Garden Show was...overwhelming. Wow. Lots and lots of huge garden displays, and lots and lots of people selling various things to go in the garden. Most of the plants being sold were actually bulbs--dahlias had the most displays, followed by lilies and then distantly by irises. Of course, I had to buy some iris bulbs and some lily bulbs for the front garden, and a pretty purple and green pot to put something in for the indoors.

I'm starting to get excited about growing things again. I'm trying to figure out how to build a frame for tomatoes and cucumbers to grow on, planning to transform the west hill (which is a difficult spot because it's got both full sun and acid soil because of the pine tree) into something quite a bit more lush and green than it is right now.

I dream about having gardens like the displays I saw today. (I do not, however, dream of the cost and maitenence required.) My favorite, Aphrodite's Retreat, had classical columns and a beautiful sheeting fountain that I longed to run my hand through. (I am such a sucker for water in a landscape.) The others that really caught my eye were much more like outdoor rooms than gardens--the Wedding Night garden, with a mosaic-tiled outdoor shower, cloth-covered table, and a canopy-draped bed, for instance. The Woodland Retreat was an outdoor room covered with mossed timber, with a stream running next to the platform that the room was based on.

Green outdoor spaces always bring with them the promise of retreat, of peace. I dream of them, fervently.

I am a happy, happy girl at the moment.

I will sleep tonight with a smile on my face.

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