February Friday

I feel the need to write about Shelton and February and what’s good about them.

What *is* good about them?. You may ask, curious one. February is the shortest month of the year, and thank God for that!  It’s cold, dreary and dark.  The holidays are over, and now even Valentine’s Day has passed.  What’s to look forward to, and what is worth celebrating?

Let me tell you. Shelton first.

I love the mist hanging in the trees on these winter mornings.  There’s a low-lying fog that makes everything seem a bit shrouded in secrecy.  It’s like if you explored those little forested areas, you’d find a lost Native American tribe living there, lost in time.

I like looking out over the vacant lot adjacent to our house and seeing the grass covered with a shiny coat of frost.

I like knowing that if I go to a store to buy groceries, I can most likely strike up an inane conversation with 1) whoever is in line behind me, or 2) my checker.  If I’m ever lonely (rare these days), I know what to do.  Just start talking about the weather, and presto!  Instant conversation.

And now, onto February. Daylight Savings time is less than 1 month away.  And the mornings are dawning earlier all the time.  Hooray!

The kids have a long weekend this weekend.  It’s a spur-of-the-moment “Mid-Winter Break”.  This means early release today, the weekend, plus Monday (President’s Day) and Tuesday off.  My mom will be here, too, so it’ll be lots of generational fun. 

Both Washington and Lincoln, two of our greatest presidents, were born this month.  Do something presidential.  Wear the colors of the flag.  Eat a hoecake.  Your choice.

Valentine’s Day chocolate and candy and paraphernalia are on sale now.  Need I say more?

It’s cozy.  Enjoy reading by the fire, drinking cocoa, watching movies with your family and possibly knitting.  I’ll do the rest and skip the last part.  Soon it’ll be spring and summer and you’ll feel guilted into working out in the yard. Your neighbors will probably start the madness, firing up their lawnmowers on the first dry day, the smell of cut grass firing up your dormant senses.  You’ll be enslaved by visions of a grand vegetable garden and a flowery bower.  Rest up now so you can sweat outside in the heat later.

Only one each year

February is Black History Month.  Pick someone to research, a historical figure you don’t know much about.  Their life might inspire you.

February, around these parts, is when the cherry trees usually start blooming.  Be on the lookout for new growth and beauty.  The trees at Ruby’s school already have buds on them.  Punxsutawney Phil isn’t always right.

February can be a tease, a sort of pre-spring one day and a winter backlash the next.  But I wouldn’t have it any other way.  February is full of surprises if you only look.