Between winter and spring intervenes, in many areas, the Daffodil Season. Here in Michigan, it is St George’s Day, April 23, as I write this, and the ground has turned green and the daffodils are out in force, but the trees still look bare and the weather is neither wintry nor particularly warm.

The daffodil season has a lot of virtues for touring and sightseeing. Except in low latitudes, the equinox has passed, and the days are fairly long, pollens and allergies have not yet kicked in (if I’m in Europe in May, June, or July, I have to bring my allergy pills with me); it may be a little bit cold, but it is a lot easier to study carved stones while listening to a lecture (which is what a lot of Old World outdoor tourism is) in this kind of weather than in summer heat. And, while the rain is incessant, it is no more so than many other times of the year, and at the very least the relatively cold rains are not steamy. Snow is confined to rare flurries that do not build up.

The vices of the daffodil season is that winter sports are done, and, while the hardy may be playing golf or tennis, outdoor sports, especially water sports, are not very comfortable. So I will still be seeking indoor gymnasiums to work out in. We itch for warmer weather. But at the same time, I enjoy the freedom from allergies and pollen, which will soon beset us.