January's Over

   I don't know if it's just me, but although January's got just 31 days, it seems the month drags on forever. I don't know if it's the fact that it's the dead of winter, or the fact I'm getting (much) older. Whatever it is, time sure seems to move slowly in January.
   We did get the almost traditional "January thaw", which saw temperatures on the plus side of zero for a few days, breaking a long stretch where we struggled to get above -20C. And there's always the promise of spring, which is coming.
   In fact, on a recent trip to Regina, I saw what some would say were indications of an early spring. There were geese in a field January 28th. But that's not unusual, since not all the geese migrate. In fact, when we lived in Thunder Bay, Ontario, it was normal to see geese around the grain terminals there. If they can get food, and even a little open water, they're set.
   The other possible portent of an early demise to winter was seeing 2 quads in the back of a pick-up. My wife and I have a little joke that, in Saskatchewan at least, you can tell the seasons are about to change by what people have in the bed of their pick-up. When summer charges to winter, motorcycles and quads are replaced by snowmobiles. With the transition to warmer weather, the snowmobiles are replaced by the quads and bikes.
   Unfortunately, both signs are for naught. After the January thaw usually comes the February freeze, with the mercury plummeting downward again. And so it will be when we turn the page on the calendars tonight. Temperatures will fall to -20 tonight, and stay in the minus teens right through the weekend.
   And Groundhog Day is this Thursday, when furry prognosticators across North America are unceremoniously hauled from their dens to see if they have a shadow or not. According to lore, if the rodent sees his shadow, it's 6 more weeks of winter. Which just about fits with the calendar as well, since spring officially doesn't arrive until March 20.

TTFN