Faithful to my commitment to find beauty in the winter landscape, I have stopped along the way to somewhere to see what is hiding (in plain sight) above the protective mass of snow that covers the ground. I am sure the snow does hide something – new, growing things. I can feel the spring in the air when the sun shines. I can hear it in the song of a new bird outside; I am convinced it is a spring messenger. The only thing I cannot do, is see it. But in the absence of spring, I found last year’s flowers that may well speak for themselves as to subtle color and unobtrusive attractiveness. Some people even prefer subdued colors in all shades of brown.