This unusually warm January has me thinking cherry blossoms. It’s too early to start counting, but once it is February 1, if you start adding the high temperature of each day in centigrades, by the time the total gets to 400, the cherry blossoms should be blooming.

On the far side of the pond, underneath the barren cherry trees, Happy is flapping his wings. It’s not the circular courtship dance he makes when he’s in love, it’s more a, “Look how big and strong I am,” happy dance.