A Whiff Will Last Me

My good friend Kitty and I drove through "ice fog" and hoar frost-laden trees yesterday to find spring.  We were on a mission to attend Wisconsin Public Television's popular Garden Expo in Madison.  This annual mecca draws thousands of eager Wisconsin gardeners who are just itching to dip their green thumbs once again into the warm soil.  Some, like Kitty, are knowledgeable and experienced, while others, like me, are just grateful to think about the gardening that we don't really do, but that we fantasize about doing.  One of my favorite things at the Garden Expo is the large flower garden placed in the center of the exhibition hall.  After months of seeing snow white and pine green, I get to feast my eyes on red tulips, yellow primroses and purple hyacinths.  This year, I just had to tuck my nose into a hyacinth and take a deep whiff of its heady, sweet scent, enough of a whiff to last me until spring.  So, in a rather un-ladylike position that would have appealed to a contortionist, I took a deep breath of spring sweetness, only to find that I wasn't alone.  My making a fool of myself encouraged at least one other to do the same.  It'll surely be a while before spring arrives in Wisconsin, but at least for yesterday, I could breathe in the warm perfume of hyacinths instead of a shock of cold, Wisconsin winter air.