These are the days that drag you down. Not severe, not scary, nothing to join with others to get through together, just dreary, uncomfortable and short. The sky droops low overhead, the water is sullen and choppy, the land is dull and soggy. February in the Pacific Northwest is the best time to go somewhere else. It was so dark today that the lights were on from morning to night. I have some sewing to do on Lisa's napkins, but it will have to wait for a brighter day because the gray of the fabric is just too close to the gray of the sky. Fortunately, there are little hints that better times are ahead. Tiny green beads of budding leaves are starting to stud the underbrush along the driveway and daffodils are pushing their way up through the dead stuff in the garden. It will only be a couple of weeks before the first wildflowers appear as if by magic on the hillside. To remind myself of this miracle, I cut some twigs from the red currant bushes in the woods and stuck them in a vase. The warmth of the house makes them leap into leaf and I can watch it happen right before my eyes. Spring!