The outstretched limb of the rose bush appeared at my back door like a long-lost visitor and I was taken aback. Again? Already? Why was I so surprised? I  could still picture it as the pared down brown stump it had become last year - seemingly incapable of thriving again. The re-greening of the world is the most predictable event on earth but it still catches me a little off guard every time. Beyond the obvious buds and grass and perennials, there are always a few details that catch me out. The green onions I planted from bulbs last year somehow survived the winter and are looking market fresh again. The number of tulips and how quickly and vividly they appear...all of it as if it's the first time. Even the little lamb's ears that pop up despite being left for dead back in the fall. Maybe it says something about me that in the dark of Winter I have the faintest shadow of a doubt that it will all really happen again.