I rode up the dirt road on my scooter this morning. My cherries are flowering my swamp magnolia is budding up, the elephant ears are sending up sprouts and my gladiolus are up about a foot tall.
We've had 30 degree temperature swings over night from warm to freezing cold. Winter feels worse when you don't have time to get used to it. Humans need to harden off just like plants. But instead of dying back like plants, we tend to hibernate inside.