Winter Tulips

Richard Brautigan said it best in his simple phrasing: “The tulips are too excitable; it is winter here.”

Not long ago, Desiree brought home two sets of tulips. Her intent was to plant them outside for early spring color. Now, they are spent on a bottom shelf in our sunroom, with only a six-inch wall separating them from a persistent snowbank snuggling against my house.

—Mitchell Hegman