WINTER THOUGHTS

OK…we have had winter for the snowmobilers, skiers and ice skaters. It was beautiful to see the earth covered with its blanket of pristine white snow, with a rare day of sunshine creating a blindingly stark contrast to our normal grey days of February. I said that I wanted one good storm before we moved on – and we had it! Let us move forward into spring and summer!

The groundhog (if he was smart) decided to stay underground rather than burrowing up through three feet of snow SO he did not see his shadow. I would guess that even the photographer’s floodlights could not penetrate the snow-covered surface. We can look forward to an early spring (which is it, winter is going to end in six weeks or spring is going to begin in six weeks – I could never figure out just what the groundhog had to do with anything!)

Birds are fluttering frantically around feeders. Do they not know that spring is just around the corner so they should not depend on us humans to feed them (since our storm has passed)? Cars seem to be nesting in mounds of snow piled up along the roadway. Do people not know that nesting is for the birds (now that spring is on the way) rather than for their cars?

Should we not begin to dream thoughts of summer now that we have had our winter storm? Is it too early to put the boat in the water? Can you build a sandcastle from snow or will the water freezing within its moat serve as a reminder we have once again rushed the seasons? Maybe I should go out to the storage barn to start the convertible! One never knows when winter will let go so we can drive through the countryside with the top down (without the heater on!).

Perhaps I will refuse to acknowledge the radio and its warnings of coming snow. After all, when have weather forecasters been right? What do they know about arctic cold fronts approaching our shores? Oh, that is right! We have no shores right now. Some foreign white substance seems to be blanketing our beautiful sandy beaches!

All kidding aside, how did YOU survive this month’s reminder that our state provides us with four beautiful seasons? Let me know what you like most (and least) about winter (now that we seem settled to have six more weeks of it!). It will give you something to do (between cleaning off the driveway and unburying the deck!).