Winter jelly: The grand prize purple ribbon

Winter jelly: The grand prize purple ribbon

I woke in the night to the howl of the wind battering the west wall of my house. A chinook wind, the warm wind. I snuggled beneath my quilts and went back to sleep with a smile on my face. The first sound I heard when I awoke was the call of a mourning dove, the first dove of the year. I stuck my head out the door. Yes, the thermometer actually registered above freezing. Then and there I underwent a definite change in mind, body and spirit. Spring fever flooded every iota of my being.

February's mail had brought seed and garden catalogs. Lovingly,...