Wintery Weather

By the time February roles around, the back of Winter is pretty nearly broken, as a rule. When I say this I mean the super harsh cold of sub zero January is past, the days are beginning to lengthen and you can usually find some signs that the change of seasons is approaching. Maybe it's a super warm day that gets the skunks moving about. You can smell them in the air. Maybe it's a slight color change in the bark of the poplar trees. During the dead of winter, the bark is ash gray but with the first flush of sap corsing through it's veins, the bark begins to take on a greenish tint. Maybe it's a small patch of dried grass that has finally fought it's way through the drifts to appear in the sunlight. That's not happening this year because we have been hit with one winter storm after another. In fact, over the past ten days, we've had no less than four major storms. These storms ran the full gambit of natures fury with wind, deep heavy wet snow and even rain and ice. Our snow depth is now more than we've had all winter and as I write this, it's snowing and there is a promise for more over the weekend. I guess I'll have to wait a bit longer for the back of winter to really give way.