can't help it

The weather has given us a spectacular start to 2011. No snow whatsoever. Cold, but sunny and breezy all week. No slipping, no sliding. Great dog-walking weather!

I tiptoe into the yard, toward my flower beds, over hard, bumpy ground. 

I peer at one end of the bed, 

where crocus will appear soon, but not this soon. 

I see green, but realize 

it's a leftover pachysandra from last summer.

A little embarrassed, I hope my neighbor Lynn (gardener extraordinaire) 

doesn't see me peeping in the flower beds on January 5!

Snows are sure to come, but I can't help it. 

My flower beds hold promise and I can't be too sure

of when the first tender shoots might appear.