Every year, sometime around Easter or the Opening Day at Keeneland, we experience a cold snap or two here in Kentucky. The weather patterns are downright chilly, and usually take place a week or two apart. And, without fail, spring's stunning flowering trees make an appearance. Without fail, I remind my beau that we're experiencing redbud winter, or its ever-so-slightly later cousin, dogwood winter, the way my mother and grandmother have always reminded me about the phenomenon. And, without fail, my beau reminds me that I'm being even more old-timey than usual.

Whether I'm being old-timey or not, I know that the early signs of spring in Kentucky are pretty amazing, and that I don't want to know the scientific explanation behind the cold snap that beckons the flowering trees into bloom.

The explanation of my Appalachian childhood was always that it needs to get cold before the trees can bloom, and that's quite enough for me.