The Longest Season

We have officially entered "The Worst Time of The Year"...the dreadful, drawn-out end of winter. February is almost over, which should mean that the worst of winter is behind us and that spring is right around the corner. That, of course, is not applicable to this lovely little corner of the country up here...

At least the first half of March is very much still deep winter. The days are longer, which is nice, but it isn't any warmer, and we can still get heavy snowfall at any moment. By the second half of March, we are pretty much past the bitter, bitter cold weather, but snow is still possible/likely, and we are still MONTH away from flip-flops.

Frankly, April is usually a miserable month, broken up by just a couple of splendid days. We always get a little tease of spring, but basically it is cold and rainy and not terribly pleasant. May is better, but it is still likely to be rainy, and often very cold. And you want the real truth? The first half of June is no real prize, either...I have never, ever, been to a June wedding when it didn't rain (that is probably not true...I'm sure I've been to at least one).

So here we are, at a time of year when things should be looking up, and when our Southern neighbors are very, very much at the end of Winter...and we are looking at a minimum of two more months of really crappy weather before we start to see anything approximating consistent improvement.

Let's count the damage. First, everyone's skin is a mess. It is too cold and dry for too long to manage good skin. There is only so much lotion that one people can apply to their collective skin:-). And since we are all terribly pale, and a little heavier from hiding under winter clothes for four months, everyone is pasty and a little doughy. It's a good look.

Second, the roads are appalling...the snow, temperature change, salt and plows really do a number on them, and they won't get fixed until April or May. Third, everything is dirty. EVERYTHING. Shoes, coats, pants, windows, cars, sidewalks, carpets, floors...so much snow and salt and sand gets tracked around that everything gets a horrible coat of dull grey/brown on it. This will all wash off when it rains in April. ALL of April. And May. And half of June.

There is good news, though...our summers are lovely, and not as oppressively hot as many places, and fall is truly spectacular. So, it's not a total loss.

But, at times like this, I am reminded that the Pilgrims were aiming for Virginia.