Colts

Sunday afternoon in January. The house is quiet and the lights are low. A fire dances in the hearth. The couch is heavy with pillows and the Colts are on TV.

Someone lies on the couch, dozing during the commercials. I walk through the room. "Rainin' out," is the conversation.

Outside, the temperature is in the low 60's, a welcome relief from the long cold period this winter. As the sun sets, the air is thick and moist, as in early spring. The trees are bare and wildflowers sleep below a blanket of brown leaves. There is not much to compete with Peyton Manning on a widescreen TV.

The first blooms of the hellebores opened this week. These are the Brandywine strain and seemed to weather the arctic blasts better than other types.

The white hellebores are two weeks behind the pink and purple, and seem more delicate.

There is still plenty of fruit on the Jackson vine (Smilax smallii). Birds love to roost in this tangled vine and in my garden, chipmunks and squirrels make it their homes as well.

The roots of the ornamental kale had frozen solid in their pots, but they survived to provide a spot of color near the driveway.

In anticipation of spring, we are tempted to wish the winter away. But out of the browns and grays of winter, comes beauty.