For a moment, maybe a day, we had no snow on the ground. It was muddy, still unpleasant to walk on, or in, but bare ground had appeared. Leslie Baker emailed that she had found snowdrops blooming in her yard. I had given her the snowdrops from my rapidly expanding plantings, which came to me from Al Mentzel and Louise Bessire. I looked at both their properties yesterday, but no snowdrops in evidence yet.

Al’s are now David and Colleen Burt’s snowdrops, that bloom with myrtle along Old County Road. Louise’s are, of course, beneath her euonymus hedge on Edgartown Road, followed by the palest lavender-blue crocuses soon to come.

So I went out looking for mine. I did find some, although most were still under unmelted snow. But my most exciting discovery was of eranthis, two different plantings, all blooming, that had come from a big clump given me by Ruth Kirchmeier last spring.

I don’t think I am different from any gardener; we all seem to share and treasure those shared gifts of plants, that become our own to be shared again. They all have stories. The beginnings of my pachysandra patch came from a friend in Ridgefield, soon after I moved to the Vineyard. Her name was Mildred Wohlforth. Look her up. She was a “sob sister” reporter back in the 1920s, wrote for New York World, New Yorker, partied and quipped with the Algonquin Round Table crowd. This column was late being written, as I went down memory lane reading online about Millie and her accomplishments. The articles don’t tell about her working in her garden right close onto Rockwell Road, stopping for conversations with passersby, or for tea in ancient cups at an ancient table in her ancient house, right up to her end in her 90s.

Please forgive my rambling. One of the things I find writing this column is how one thought or story leads to another. Garden gifts will surely appear again as a topic.

I met the most interesting woman this past week: Dr. Lisa Nagy, a specialist in emergency medicine and environmental medicine, and owner of Vineyard Personalized Medicine, which has recently relocated its offices to 24 Cournoyer Road in West Tisbury. Dr. Nagy was invited to Washington, D.C., to a Congressional roundtable of the Veterans’ Health Subcommittee to talk about toxic exposure and its effects on Gulf War veterans and children.

Again, it was tempting and easy to ramble, so I watched Ann Bassett’s interview of Dr. Nagy on MVTV, and read some of the information I found online. I suppose it only makes sense that mold and chemicals in our homes and environments could cause all sorts of things. You may wish to read about this yourself. lisanagy.com is her web site. Welcome to West Tisbury, Dr. Nagy.

It’s hard to believe that the new library opened a whole year ago. There will be a party to celebrate the event this coming Sunday afternoon, March 22, 1 to 3:30 pm. There will be live music, tiny cupcakes, good company, and lots of books.

If you read this column early enough, there is a program about vaccination this afternoon from 5 to 6 pm at the library. Dr. Julia Stunkel, Dr. Dana Guyer, and Marnie Toole, R.N., are the presenters.

The Lego Club meets at the library on Saturday afternoon, March 21, from 2:30 to 4:30. All ages are welcome. You may also make a paper bird at the library’s all-day craft table in the Children’s Room. There is a teen/tween craft set out in the Young Adult’s Room downstairs.

Jill Jupen’s Monday afternoon-discussion group, Six Contemporary Poets, continues this week, featuring poetry by Dobby Gibson. The group meets in the library’s Community Room from 4:30 to 6.

Next week, Laura Murphy, R.N., will lead a discussion of Dr. Atul Gawande’s book, Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End. The program begins at 3 pm. Books are available at the circulation desk, so you can read it ahead of time.

Tara Whiting reminds us that our annual town meeting is scheduled for Tuesday evening, April 14, 7 pm, at the West Tisbury School. The election follows on Thursday, April 16, 7 am to 8 pm, at the Public Safety Building.

March 12 is a group family birthday for Sylvia Thompson, her daughter Mary Rentschler, and Mary’s half-sister Hope. This year was extra-special, as while we were celebrating, Sylvia’s new grandniece was being born. Genevieve Sarah Kreutle is the daughter of Christine Rentschler and Joseph Kreutle. Excitement and congratulations. Sylvia loves babies, and we all look forward to her meeting and holding young Genevieve.

Mary hosted her mother’s party at Long Hill, where Sylvia has lived the past three years. Guests were Barbara Oberfest, Lynne Whiting, Elizabeth Sandland, Louise Sweet, and me. We had flowers, presents, laughter, lots of pictures, and a delicious lunch that ended with the best cheesecake ever. Lynne showed Sylvia pictures of her two grandchildren, Bea’s son Asa and Will’s daughter Prudence. Zima Flanders took a video to send to siblings unable to attend. Rick O’Gorman came for his regular Thursday-afternoon performance, and began by singing “Happy Birthday” to Sylvia. You are much loved, Sylvia.

I couldn’t believe when it started to snow late Sunday afternoon. Soon the world was again covered in a lacy white veil and the sky was almost invisible. Next week will be the vernal equinox, the first day of spring. I remain on the cusp of wanting to hold onto winter’s quietude and eagerness to get outside to begin planting, to feel sunshine and warmth on my skin, to watch the world turn green.