A longtime Georgian explains the seasons

 My neighbor Jesse, seeing my perplexity at finding some new flowering plants, asked: “Is this your first spring in Georgia?”

I told him it was. I also told him my perplexity boiled down to this: How is it possible for everything to be blooming when I start my day by putting a fire in the fireplace and don’t dare take the dog for a walk without a coat and scarf?

He said: “The people here speak of Dogwood Winter and Redbud Winter. The dogwoods are already gone. That was Dogwood Winter. The redbuds are still going, so we’re in Redbud Winter now. By the end of the week, it’ll be warm enough to call it spring. By July, you’ll be wanting to walk that big dog without anything on.”

I'm learning.