Why I love February

Why I love February:
 
I missed posting on 2/2/22, but I did get to write that cool date on one check. Yes, I still write checks by hand. I like feeling obliged to put deliberate time and thought into spending. There’s a chance to rethink your decision, change the number, tear the thing up. Impulse buying over the airwaves has become way too easy, “one-click purchase!” --  but I digress. 
          
Today was a snow day around here. I still love snow days, opportunities for leisurely digression. February, as a month, gets a bad rap, something to flee. For me, it’s the best of winter. The snows of March (and even April, here in central Maine) lose some of their enchantment. By then I’m feeling restless for spring. This early February snow is blustery and blissful.
        
For those of you who get my newsletter, some of the list below will look familiar, but February’s charms deserve reiteration (btw – I’d love to add you to my mailing list! Newsletters come ~4 times a year, or max 1/month if cool things are happening).
 
If February is getting you down, consider these benefits:
 

• Though Clara the 14-year-old lumpy labrador opts out of back field walks when the temperature dips below zero, for me the cold invigorates, uplifts, especially on brilliant sunshiny days, or when there's 18 inches of fresh snow retaining its lightness and sparkle. Exertion warms the body, reddens cheeks, brightens eyes. There's magic in a handful of snowflakes, glinting in the sun. It tastes like childhood.
• That doesn't mean I don't love fires in the woodstove and time to hang indoors with no pressure to go anywhere.
• Great month for reading books.
• Excellent month for introverts.
• Short month - goes by fast! Savor it. 
• License to consume chocolate. It keeps us warm. 
• Big pots of soup and warm bread from the oven.
• Ideal cuddling weather. 
• Continuing expansion of daylight.
• Family birthdays - we have three. What a great time of year to celebrate with cake!

 
May you all find your best Februarys.
**Robin