I need a small reminder

Right now, our temps are frigid.  If I had a dollar for every time I said, "I hate this cold" this week, I'd be able to go buy myself a nice antique cupboard.  I wanted to make a little something to remind me that spring is just around the corner, and before I know it, I'll be complaining about the heat of summer.  I put together this simple and bright potpourri/bowl filler.

I slice and dried a few red apples.  I dry them in the oven, on the lowest temp, and turn them every hour.  I've found they take a lot longer to dry than oranges.  I like to buy my cinnamon sticks whole and if I need them smaller, I just break them up.  I find the scent gets refreshed, for lack of a better term, when I break them.  The light green of the bay leaves are a nice contrast.  Toss that all in a bowl and voila, a small reminder of spring.

 I put the bowl one of my high traffic areas, so that I can gaze upon it when I walk by it and I let my mind wander off and dream of warmer temps, fresh air blowing through the open windows, laughing children playing in the freshly cut grass, and birds chirping in the blossoming trees.  Then I turn the corner and am brought back to reality by the slippers on my feet, and piles of the kids snow suits, mittens, and hats.