Goodbye January, Hello February

   Hard as it is to believe, we are in February. January seemed, for a change, to slide right by. Normally, the month seems to drag on interminably. I don't know if the overly mild weather we had last month was a factor, but it sure helped. Last week, we had temperatures well above freezing, and considerably well above normal.
   But, that was last month. February can be just as brutal, or even more so, than January. And since we have an extra day this Leap Year, February will be longer than normal.
   In fact, according to legend, February was a lot longer than it is now. Until 2 Roman emperors, Caesar's Julius and Augustus, got finished with it. It seems Julius wasn't happy that "his" month (July) was shorter than others, so he "borrowed" a day or so from February. Not to be outdone, Augustus figured he'd take a day or so for "his" month (August). But again, that's according to legend.
   And tomorrow is also Groundhog Day, where prognosticating rodents are unceremoniously yanked from their dens to see if we get an early spring, or 6 more weeks of winter. We'll find out tomorrow if Punxsutawney Phil, Shubenacadie Sam, Wiarton Willie and Balzac Billy can agree. Tragically, Winnipeg's "Willow" won't be able to give us his/her forecast. Willow passed away just a few days ago.
   Personally, I'm hoping for an early spring. But all will be revealed tomorrow!

TTFN