Sorry about no post yesterday. My high school session got switched to the morning and then compressed to 40 minutes, so instead of calmly writing to you, I was leaping out of bed and flying down the highway and putting on the double-speed poetry show. Today, though, I'll be working from home, editing and focusing on essay-class stuff, and then this evening I'll be going to my friend Betsy Sholl's book launch (which is at Longfellow Books in Portland at 7 pm, if you want to go too).

But I do have some news for you: spring is here. Right along the house foundation, where the afternoon sun blazes, tulips and hyacinths and crocuses are poking their tips through the leafmold. Everywhere else, the yard still has snow cover. The wind has been fierce, temperatures are grim, and the windchill has been well below zero. But the flowers will not be stopped. Down the street I spotted snowdrops opening in someone's bare front garden. It's not even March yet; in Harmony it's still the dead of winter. But the magic of the seaside is at work in Portland.

Of course last night it snowed on top of the poor little sprouts. But they'll pull through.