'The First of February'

Painting above: Black Swans (c. 1937) by Dorrit Black

The first of February made me feel that winter was over. I was wrong, of course, but it was a happy feeling, and lasted for a day or two, while the sun popped in and out among small bright clouds and snowdrops dangled in exquisite little clumps under the bare beeches.

-from "Guard Your Daughters" by Diana Tutton