A Sure Sign

Day 103: And what is this I see? Why, it's the nose of Spring, poking out from under the covers, waking, but not yet ready to get out of bed. Timely that I polished off the last of the frozen rhubarb in a vitamin-C laden crumble last week, anticipating this year's crop, for that is what this is: the first leaf-bud of rhubarb, and a sure sign that the gardening season is on the cusp. My plant, given to me some years ago by a friend, has finally established itself with a vengeance. I too have joined the ranks of people who ask, "Do you want some fresh rhubarb?" of our acquaintances. Unlike zucchini growers, though, I know of no one who leaves bundles of this heritage comestible in the backs of strangers' pickup trucks or, like foundlings, on unattended doorsteps.