NO WINTER LASTS FOREVER

Taken from Mary's "Across the Pond" blog 

"No winter lasts forever; no spring skips its turn."

- Hal Borland

"If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant."

- Anne Bradstreet

Hal Borland and Anne Bradstreet, I'm hanging on to your every word. It's as if you're telling me, "Hang in there."

Regular readers of this blog will know that winter is difficult for me. This winter has been even more difficult. Remember that short-lived Steven Weber TV show (not "Wings"!), in which he was always shown walking around with a dark cloud over his head? That's me. For weeks now, we in central ND have been experiencing low clouds, frost and fog. Day after day after endless day.

We haven't had as much snow on the ground for this time of year since 1979. It hasn't been above freezing since sometime in January. The average temperature in February was 10 degrees below normal. If the weatherman tells us the temps will be in the 30s, they've been in the 20s. If they've told us they'll be in the 20s, they're in the teens. (My sis says that meterology is the only profession in which they get paid big bucks to be wrong.) The weathermen also tell us that the air sitting above us is warmer, it just can't get to the ground. All we need, they tell us, is to get that cold heavy Arctic air scoured out.

I like that phrase, "Scour Out". I wish I could take a big scouring pad and take it to the sky, to let some of that uplifting blue in.

Once again, forecasters are saying that temps will be "near freezing" this weekend. That's a phrase that bugs me. Temps of 30-31 F are not near freezing. They are freezing. Temperatures of 33-34 are near freezing. The forecasters should be saying "near melting" (and how much better that sounds). 

I haven't felt like blogging, except for my book blog, where I have been faithful to my New Year's Resolution to review every book I've read. And I've read a record number of books. I read 9 in January and 14 in February. This winter, books have been my solace, my friends, my occupation, my pastime, my salvation, my escape, my sanity.

Getting back to this blog: Although I have neglected it recently, I noticed the other day that I now have over 100 followers! I can hardly believe that that many people find what I say of interest. (Especially when I rant about SAD and the weather.) I seldom hear from any of you, but I thank you for being there, for validating me.

Having over 100 followers makes me feel responsible to provide a more interesting blog than it's been, and to be more prolific. The weather has been so uniformly dreary that I hardly noticed the calendar page turn. But it is March, and we are only about two weeks from the vernal equinox and less than two weeks to St. Patrick's Day. To that end, I am going to take up the theme I used last March, and write about "All Things Irish" (and Celtic).

I hope these posts are interesting and thought-provoking. But if they're of no interest to you, I'm repeating what I said last March: "See you in April!"