It’s sunny and warm in New York today, and the birds are tweeting outside my (open) window as I write this. I strolled down to the supermarket this morning to pick up a few things for my lunch, and it was so GLORIOUS I could have skipped and sung a little tune.

Spring is such a wonderful time, but I think you can appreciate it best after a long, cold, dark winter. If we hadn’t had such ridiculous snowstorms, cold weather and dark days over the last four months, I doubt I would have been so deliriously happy at the sight of a warm spring day today. I’m definitely a product of my upbringing in a northern European country, where the winters were dark and cold (alright, not quite as cold as NY gets, but still pretty chilly and damp) and the arrival of spring was something to get really excited about. As much as tropical climes and permanent sunshine sound exciting in February, I don’t think I could ever permanently live somewhere that didn’t have winter. I love the cold and dark just as much as I love days like today – and their contrasts are what make them so wonderful. I’m eagerly awaiting the arrival of spring fruits and vegetables at the farmer’s market, and that glorious day in early summer when the tomatoes start appearing. Succulent, fresh, local tomatoes. The ones you buy in March taste dreadful, because they have been frozen and shipped from somewhere far-flung. Nothing beats the taste of a tomato grown nearby, plucked off the vine and taken straight to market. You’ll never want to eat a tasteless, pale, Mexico-grown one again. Unless you live in Mexico, in which case they probably taste delicious all year round.