February, the shortest month of the year. Really?!!!

February for me is not the shortest month of the year.  Forget about what the calendar says.  By this time in the game of winter, I'm ready to put my boots away and hang up my winter coat, toss the penalty flag in the air, and declare the game over.

That doesn't make spring come any sooner, so you can find me at this juncture of winter, out in the garden pruning and pulling weeds.  Why you may ask, or as my neighbor not so judiciously put it, "Don't you have anything better to do?"

There is a method to this seemingly madness.  When I am pruning and tidying up I can see the Spring taking her first gasps of air.  You see as I am pruning, I see the burgeoning buds that from a distance one would miss.  And as I am weeding, I can view the bulbs and perennials making their ever slow ascent to the light of day.

Try this quotation on for size:

 "He knows no winter, he who loves the soil,
For, stormy days, when he is free from toil,
He plans his summer crops, selects his seeds
From bright-paged catalogues for garden needs.
When looking out upon frost-silvered fields,
He visualizes autumn's golden yields;
He sees in snow and sleet and icy rain
Precious moisture for his early grain;
He hears spring-heralds in the storm's ' turmoil­
He knows no winter, he who loves the soil."
-  Sudie Stuart Hager, He Knows No Winter  

Keep the pilot light going in your heart.  Whether that means taking up a new creative endeavor, or planting seeds, or going to that garden that speaks to your soul.

TAFN,
Peace out,
Laura