I live in lands of ice and snow.  You have to love winter to choose life in the mountains. Mid-April in these parts, big wet flakes are still falling and people are still digging out from the long winter.

People are putting away their skis and getting out their mountain bikes on days when the roads are clear.

Moose appear outside my window, searching for buds on the trees. Hungry bears have already been sighted near town.

But I’m off soon on a springtime trip to Europe, where (usually) the climate is a lot more temperate.  This year I’m lucky enough to have a few days in Paris–in April! I’m already dreaming of the Medici Grotto in the Luxembourg Gardens. I’m dreaming of the flowers in the Tuileries, once the pleasure gardens of kings and queens, but now open to all.