My brain, still somehow hardwired to Arizona I suppose, has decided for the rest of the body that spring is here. It ignores the evidence my eyes present it of snow on the ground and plans each day's wardrobe with spring in mind. Thank God my sneaky arms are quick enough to throw on the winter coat when we're on the way out the door, but the feet aren't so smart, and have taken to wearing shoes lately when boots were really called for.

I've been trying to distract the brain while the rest of the body rebels by feeding it thoughts of spring gardens. If I ever own a home of my own, it will have to have a garden. A little cottage is fine, but only if there's a garden to go with it. Until then, my "garden" will have to be the landing on the back staircase, which is really pretty sizeable. You remember it; that's where I built my snowman. For the last month and a half I've been planning what I'm going to plant.

1. Tomatoes. Tomatoes are always a must. It is absolutely impossible to get tomatoes in the store that taste like tomatoes, and the much lauded Farmers' Markets of Chicago are no better. A few years ago my parents gave me some tomatoes that they had grown, and one of them had split in the area of the stem. I cut that part off, and gave it a lick as I went to throw it out. Wow. My mouth just exploded with saliva, the flavor was so strong. I nibbled every edible bit off that stem. It may have been the best tomato of my life.

2. Strawberries. I want to get one of those hanging basket strawberry kits. I think these will do well.

3. Cucumbers. I really want to try my hand at pickling, so I'm going to grow the small ones. I'm not sure how this'll turn out, but what a fun experiment. I love pickles. I could turn vegetarian easily if I could just be sure of a tomato-and-pickle sandwich every day.

4. Cantaloupe. Cantaloupe, muskmelon, whatever. Melon with orange inside. This is probably the fruit least likely to succeed on my landing, but I am honestly desperate for decent cantaloupe. I have no idea why grocery stores even bother to stock cantaloupe when it always, always, always dead green and hard. Nasty! And cantaloupe doesn't really ripen when you take it home with you. I haven't had cantaloupe in years now, and I WANT it.

5. Assorted herbs. Definitely basil.

6. Flowers. More hanging baskets.

Now, if it would just stop snowing, I could get started on this!