Countdown to Spring – The Weekly Version

Yes, it’s true.  Mercifully, I am going to a once a week posting on this topic.  Just in case you might have thought I was showing mercy only to the readers, it’s also a kindness for me as well.  The daily writing of things related to counting down to spring is a discipline that was always difficult and is more so this year with changes in schedule, etc.  Perhaps for 2019, I’ll go back to the daily posts from Groundhog’s Day to the actual first day of spring.  We’ll see.

Speaking of Groundhog’s Day, dear old Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow on February 2nd.  Stupid woodchuck.  Doesn’t Phil realize we need the hope of an early spring this year?  I know it really hasn’t been any longer, colder, or snowier than what is considered normal for my area, but it sure felt/feels like it.

There are signs of hope that better weather days are ahead.  The daylight hours are getting longer, the sun coming a little sooner over the horizon and disappearing for the day just a bit later.  Warmer?  Well, no, not really, and we won’t even discuss that polar cold snap that quadrupled my electricity/heating bill last month.  However, if you’re a weather nerd like I am, you’ve noticed a long-range forecasting trend of warming up just a little faster than it was doing back in late December and a decent chunk of January.  It’s not staying obscenely cold for as long is what I’m saying.

Seed catalogs are arriving.  I don’t get as many as I used to because I don’t order that much anymore.  Many of the seed companies post their catalog online for the less frequent customers like myself to peruse.  But, there’s just something about that paper catalog, slowly turning pages and sighing heavily over pictures of fruits, vegetables and flowers which never, ever look that great in your garden that does a winter-weary heart good.  It also fuels my spring fever.  Not sure if that’s a good or bad thing.

I walk quite a bit more than I used to in years past.  As a result, I’m seeing the changes in trees and bushes that start this time of year.  There’s slow-growing evidence of life returning even now.  One of the first I noticed was the pussy willow I walk by every day to go to the post office.  I thought I was seeing things at first.  Nope – little fuzzy buds have emerged on the branches.  No, we’re not talking pussy willows coming into bloom – okay, fur – anytime in the next 2-3 weeks.  It’s just that there’s a reawakening going on and it’s pretty much on schedule.

So, whether you want to believe the ground hog/woodchuck/whistling pig/ whatever you call them or not, spring is coming and will be here on March 20th at 12:15 PM EDT.  It may not necessarily look or feel like it on the day.  Many times, it’s exactly like the winter season left behind the day before.  But, eventually, it always happens.

Of course, that doesn’t mean we have to be patient about it.

Only 41 days until Spring.

Countdown to Spring: And So It Begins …

Last year, I posted every day to my personal Google page from Ground Hog’s Day to the first day of spring.  This year, I will be posting here instead.  So, if there be any followers of this blog who don’t want to read my banal words lamenting winter weather and the lack of spring day after day after day, ignore all posts starting with “Countdown to Spring” until after March 20, or 20 March for some readers who know who they are.  Most entries will be mercifully shorter than today’s post.

It’s presently snowing in the Mid-Hudson Valley of New York and we have about 10” from a storm that only started about midnight last night.  It may be  revenge by the sky bears  for my laughing at the snowstorm that wasn’t last week, when they were predicting 18” or more and we only got 4”.  By the way, if you need the sky bear reference explained, you’ve lived in a snow-free location your entire life.  Anyway, they are predicting an inch of snow an hour until sometime after noon today.  When after the noontime hour ‘sometime’ occurs is anyone’s guess.

Speaking of predictions, down in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, the resident ground hog (also referred to as woodchuck, whistling pig, and that little ?##*%! that ate my garden), lovingly referred to as Phil, saw his shadow at the appointed hour this morning.  They were fortunate that the storm took a different course and they weren’t standing in the middle of a foot high snowbank when feisty Phil did his winter forecast thing.  Anyway, for those unfamiliar with the Ground Hog’s Day tradition, when the ground hog sees his shadow, it means six more weeks of winter.  Well, duh! and *sigh*.  Much as it doesn't really make a difference, I really prefer it when he doesn't see his shadow, as that means the vernal equinox is just around the corner.  However, that corner is still six weeks away.

Only 46 days until spring.

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