Whatever Happened to Winter?

Whatever Happened to Winter?

SPRING, as measured by the calendar, at least, is a couple days away and it looks as if ... it really looks like Winter 'snuck' into our neck of the woods when we had our heads turned and just ... left.  One or two hard freezes. A 'barely there' dusting of snow. Hemmed in by many more days of mild weather so that we forgot when. And hmm. And that was about it.

Folks kept sitting around talking about Winter as if it was some ancient relative who might one day come for a visit.

You just wait, we've had some of our coldest winters in January. Then, February's always been  one of our coldest months. We had us some doozy snowstorms in February. Or, Hey, y'all remember that time we came out of church in March, and there was three inches of snow on the ground?

Not happening. Somehow, Winter skipped us this year.

I'm a daily walker, and I enjoy walking in all kinds of weather, because I have the right gear. During past winters, I used my "all-weather" walking gear most days of the winter. My walking partner and I walked when the temperature was below freezing. We sloshed through fallen snow and skirted frozen rain puddles. This past "winter," I didn't even  take the long underwear out of the drawer. Not once. Not saying it was never cold. Just making the point that regular winter coats, scarves, earmuffs and gloves did the trick.

So Spring is here. Nature knows it regardless of what the calendar might say. Redbuds, pears, plums, dogwoods, forsythias, hawthorns - all in full bloom. Flowers have been doing their glorious thing for weeks. Along with ... yep, weeds, clover and crabgrass. Frogs and the song of the early bird seeking his worm mingle with the roar of lawmowers and weedeaters! And I am basking in this warm, sunny and beautiful Spring.

But wait.

It's the middle of March and - as for most of this past week - the high today will be in the eighties.

Spring? Is this really YOU? Have you, like Brother Winter, just made a lightning quick visit and gone merrily on your way?

As my GPS says ... RECALCULATING ... RECALCULATING ...

Hello, Summer.  (grins happily and goes outside to dig in the ground and plant stuff)