You know those days: you wake up knowing you’ve slept well. Your husband turns to you and says your omelet is the best he’s ever tasted and your nose is perfectly proportioned for your face—and to top it off you find a 20-dollar bill on the sidewalk on the way to the ATM.

I could use a day like that.

And another.

I decided to take my bad attitude for a stroll around the garden and that’s when it happened: I found the hellebores in bloom – in early February. You can’t have a bad day when you see such hardy plants defying the wind and subzero temperatures and pumping blossoms right at your bad attitude.

My dry, cracked lips cracked a smile.

That propelled me to check the witch hazel, and it too was in bloom. Early. A pop of reddish-purple against the new-fallen snow stopped me in my tracks — winter heath. I rounded the corner of the garage to find snowdrops forcing their way through the frozen ground. Think of the effort that takes.

I could use some of that gumption these days. I slathered on more ChapStick and resolved to get out of the house more.

Today the hellebores are buried under eight inches of heavy snow.

They can take a joke.

Once the sun hits them, and they thaw out, they’ll feed the winter-weary soul.

Onward.