Monday morning dawned with my favorite winter weather — a new-fallen snow was covering all the tree branches. The rising sun made a picture-perfect scene. Then, as it warmed, the snow melted and the day became downright pleasant for us outdoorsy types.

I noticed the tiniest flower on the perennial candy tuft. The plant, Iberia, is short and compliments the edge of a stone wall. I believe it blooms before the ground phlox.

As I mentioned a few weeks ago, the white hellebore is blooming happily and is now tall enough to be noticeable.

Rumor has it that 20 turkeys were found dead in Edgartown. We are anxiously awaiting the results of a necropsy. Could they have been poisoned?

The photo with last week’s column showed a big flock of birds above a chicken house. It was a great photo, which then made me wonder about the possible spread of bird flu. Now that we don’t have experts like Dr. Fauci at the helm, we really need to pay attention.

When it comes to seed catalogs, I really have brand loyalty. I found one of my favorites in the pile: Sow Free Seeds out of Asheville, N.C., an employee-owned operation that was founded by the Vineyard’s own Carol Koury in 2009. Aside from over 500 choices of vegetable and flower seeds, the catalog is filled with information for the first-time grower. For example, open-pollinated and heirloom are defined in easy-to-understand language.

Because I was not blessed with patience, (I’ve often said when God passed it out, I couldn’t wait) I think my week-ago planted onion seeds may have been too wet. I reordered some of my favorites just in case. Even if they do come up, it never hurts to have plenty. I’m still eating from last summer’s harvest.

When I was expecting my third child, Reuben, I planted a one-foot tall sugar maple. He’s almost 50 and the tree is at least 50 feet tall. He spent a few days this week tapping that tree, as well as some other maples on the property. In just two days, he has collected several gallons of sap and is busy boiling it down over an outside wood stove.

My dad tapped trees on our property my entire childhood. He had a 55-gallon oil barrel cut in half lengthwise for a fire. We never bought syrup. He used to tap a few telephone poles on the road to confuse the passersby. One time my brother and a friend boiled it down in my mom’s kitchen. It loosened and removed the wallpaper. Oops.

Hopefully, by next week I’ll be able to report some tiny shoots of crocuses or snowdrops poking through the still-frozen soil.

I rummaged around in the junk drawer for some of the old political buttons and found my favorite from the Bush years “Never thought I’d miss Nixon.” I started remembering him fondly. Imagine that?

After the Cuyahoga River caught fire from so many toxic pollutants, Nixon went on to sign into law the Environmental Protection Agency. He was a decent diplomat and most importantly he did eventually listen to Republican Congress-people, have what I suppose is a moment of shame, and do what was best for the country and resign.

I don’t see that happening today.