Yesterday I bought my first tulips of the season. I went into Kowalski’s to buy lunch and came out with orange tulips. I can’t resist tulips. I love all colors but yesterday the orange ones called to me. Some people I know force tulip bulbs in the midst of winter. I have tried that, but the time I have these days really requires that I buy this color I long for in winter. Make no mistake about it, I love winter. I love the cold, the snow, even the windchill in some moderation. But just about now-the end of January, I begin to yearn for color. And so I watch for primroses, tulips, tiny daffodills, hyacinths if I need a good scent of something as well. And I buy them.

Today I sat and looked at the stems of the tulips in the clear, glass vase. The sun (thank, you God!) was streaming in the window and the yellow-green stems were beautiful in the water. I noticed how much water they had consumed over night….a good 4 inches of water for 8 tulips. It seemed amazing that these flowers, cut off from their bulb-life source, were still drinking, still reaching toward the light, still trying to open even further into their own colorful potential. I just spent a long time looking at them, being thankful that they were in my home, bringing a different shade to the blue-white light out the window.

Knowing that just outside there are hundreds of other tulips still waiting for the right time to push through the ground made me smile. But for now I am content with January, the snow, the cold, the beauty of a Minnesota winter finally arrived and the "too-soon" tulips in my living room.

A blessed weekend to you all……