Winter’s Last Punch

As I cleaned my yard and raked dead leaves and sticks out of my bushes on Saturday, I tried to ignore a warning that we were in for another storm.  More snow, my neighbors shared, shaking their heads and lamenting the worst winter they can ever remember.

It was nearly 60 degrees on Saturday, with a beautiful warm sunshine.  There were crocuses sprouting up throughout my yard.  Those little purple flowers always give me such hope.  Spring is nearly here, they say, and I believe them.

Yesterday I headed out to my son’s first spring soccer game of a spring season already filled with postponed and delayed games.  The temperature seemed to drop as each minute passed.  At halftime my fellow mom-friend headed to her car.  She was frozen and had had enough.  Her Canadian husband braved the cold with me on the sideline in his all-weather ski gear.  Determined to freeze in solidarity with my son, I watched the rest of the game from the sideline, and shivered.  My shivering didn’t stop until I submerged myself in a tub of warm water last night, and it was then that I remembered the promise of snow in the morning.  A St. Patty’s Day punch.  How lovely.

When the going gets tough in February, Mary Alice always says we just need to hang on until St. Patty’s Day.  But not this year.  This year, winter has the last say.  St. Patty’s Day has added another 6 inches to a record breaking cold and snowy winter.  Baseball, spring soccer, anything held outdoors — cancelled and postponed.  Schools are closed and/or delayed AGAIN.  Even dance classes, drama classes, and choir practices have been cancelled.  A lot of housebound togetherness between moms and kids is the recipe for mom insanity.  Somewhere, I read that this was the winter that killed all the moms.  That years from now researchers will look back and see spikes in anti-depressant prescriptions and wonder what happened in 2014 to cause such sadness.  Only the mom researchers will know it must have been the weather.

Even my kids are so tired of the snow that they let out sighs and groans this morning.  After the previous March snowstorm, my baby Josie exclaimed, “snow, no snow!  Cool socks.”  She was clearly trying to put a positive spin on an otherwise bleak situation.  And so I’ll follow her lead and try to be positive.  The winter must end at some point.  March comes in like a lion and out like a lamb.  It is only the 17th of March, so there is still plenty of time for those lamb-like days to appear.  I have some pretty awesome snow boots this year.  They are warm and comfortable and I get to wear them again today as I head out to shovel.  Josie is sure to say, “cool boots,” when I put them on my feet, which will make me laugh.  Because the weather has been so bad, I’ve done less running and more core strength training exercises.  I am now able to hold a handstand (against a wall of course!) for over 30 seconds.  I’ve learned that being upside down actually decreases headaches, and helps significantly with neck pain.

And that’s about all I’ve got this morning.  Stay strong ladies…stay strong.