Real winter

How should winter be defined? Is it simply a date on a calendar, a state of mind, a meteorological event? What say you, good reader?
Mr. Fuzzy would hazard that below freezing temperatures and snow constitutes a useful definition... and at long last, we have real snow (i.e., not a dusting). Last night a light powder snow fell heavily for several hours, accumulating nearly an inch in the first hour. The total accumulation was less than two inches but the visual effect this morning was "cold" (it was just 22F). Here is a photograph taken shortly after daybreak...

And yet, despite being positioned squarely in the depths of winter, already the hope for the joy of spring is nearby; Mr. Fuzzy's aunt sent a Williamsburg teacup planted with miniature daffodils which are in the midst of their showy display of that most spring-like colour, yellow. They emanate cheer personified, a proven tonic for the winter blues.