Signs of hope

I stepped out of my front door on a cold wintry morning and noticed that something was missing. Actually, to things were missing. One was part of the downspout from the roof guttering, which had come loose in the wind and the rain, and deposited itself in the middle of the lawn. The other was the snow. It finally appears to be going. As paulabanks pointed out, this has been the darkest winter in about 80 years: no wonder I've been struggling.