Mid-Winter Reflections

I used to like February - brighter mornings - only 28 days - we and Bill Murray could joke about the groundhog - Valentine's Day with its candlelight dinners and mushy greetings (roses are red) - two Presidents' holidays and a promise of Spring. But somewhere along the way the earth shifted - the groundhog got serious and I began to ponder that question "How much wood can a woodchuck chuck, if a woodchuck could chuck wood." Then they merged two Mt. Rushmore Presidents and we lost a holiday. And the only candlelight dinners were the result of power outages. Hallmark greetings dried up and humor got edgier. "Your use of Twitter can make you bitter." The red roses withered. And the Weatherman/woman with their colorful charts and dipstick in the snow became a celebrity. They resurrected phrases like "black ice" and "power outage". But as I drove with white knuckles to avoid the potholes I spied March approaching in the rear view mirror. Pretty soon we will celebrate Mardi Gras and then St. Patty's Day and can dust off the Irish CDs and polish off a few Guinnesses and the Chicago River will run green again!
tjs