Early crocus, home

A few days ago, I reported what seemed like a semi-tragedy, i.e., the local White-tailed Deer, hungry for greenery at this, the leanest time of the botanical year, came close to the house to eat an entire patch of incipient Crocus blossoms and foliage I watched and highlighted. I know I should be charitable, and I do understand the desire for fresh salad, but I was not happy to share the floral wealth and had, albeit briefly, thoughts towards the elegant mammals that are not appropriate to record in this space. Happily for me, the deer didn't come close to eating everything, and in short order, many, many of the earliest varieties of Crocus emerged out of the leaf litter and thumbed their noses... OK, their petals, pistils, and stamens, at the herbivores. It was time for the almost-end-of-winter flower show, and it was definitely a sight for eyes made sore by the long procession of white and brown.