Weather in the Month of Ground Hugs*

January has flown by. February—or FebBURRRuary, as I like to call it-- is upon us. Ground Hog’s Day officially kicks off my hopes for an early spring. If the little varmint sees his shadow, we’re told to expect six more weeks of winter. If it’s a nasty day of weather, we’re told—counter-intuitively-- to see this as a good sign. After all, with weather this nasty, spring must be right around the corner, right?

I know this is how the folksy superstition is intended to work: the worse it seems, the better it’s going to get. However, I live in the wet half of a very soggy, cloudy-skied, Evergreen state. (Spoiler alert: it’s quite possible the “green” in Evergreen is moss green. From actual moss.) It’s nearly impossible for me to root against the sun making any appearance, even if it shows up on February 2^nd and sentences me to another six weeks of misery, it’s still SUN. Be glad you got to see it, no matter the circumstances. In MY folksy superstition, one should throw one’s self on the ground in a joyous effort to hug their shadow. I call it Ground Hug’s Day.

One of my strong beliefs about February weather is that every year, the month of Hearts and Ground Hogs also contains back to back days—let’s call it a week—of unseasonably warm weather. Temperatures can sky-rocket into, not only the 50’s, but the HIGH 50’s. Virtually shirt sleeve weather! Dig out the sunscreen and put on your sunglasses---and probably better keep the snow shovel close at hand because February weather often requires a lot of shoveling.

My snowdrops are poking their brave little heads above ground, can the first crocus of spring be far behind? Crocuses will soon be followed by daffodils, and tulips ---and then the entire earth seems to explode into bloom.

So, on February 2^nd, no matter what the weather brings-- be it Ground Hog’s weather, or Ground Hug weather—I will declare spring to be just around the corner. And my snow shovel? No worries, I know just where I left it.