Pink blossoms shine colorfully in the sun as a motorist drives past along Lauren Street in Santa Cruz.

An apricot blossom is lit by late afternoon sunlight.

Daffodils flower at the end of Meadow Street, bringing color and beauty to Santa Cruz’s Upper Westside. Recent unseasonably cold temperatures in Santa Cruz County belie the sure signs of the coming spring. Bright yellow daffodils emerging from their winter hibernation are among the earliest local bloomers and are a harbinger of the warmer days to come. American author Madeleine L’Engle wrote, “Life is the greatest gift that could ever be conceived. A daffodil pushing up through the dark earth to the spring, knowing somehow deep in its roots that spring and light and sunshine will come, has more courage and more knowledge of the value of life than any human being I’ve met.” L’Engle was an American writer of fiction, nonfiction, poetry and young adult fiction, most famously known for her 1962 adult science fantasy novel “A Wrinkle in Time.”