Keep Calm. Winter Will End.

We will now do the Dance of Joy. January is OVER. Yippee!

Obviously I am not a winter person. I do not ski. I do not skate. Might go down a hill once on a sled, then I will go in the house and make hot chocolate for everyone.

I don’t like winter. I don’t like excessive cold, especially when my water pipes freeze. This winter my water pipes have been heated better than I have. We have survived so far.

A little bit of cold is OK. You need a little bit of cold for the garden. It helps gardens.

Speaking of gardens, I, the black-thumb gardener, am like every other gardener around. My new seed catalogs have arrived. I have shopped all of them, and ordered. I pile the catalogs up next to my easy chair. I might need to order something else. The pages of my seed catalogs are worn, and folded, and marked, and some are torn out for further reference.

On the internet I subscribe to all the seed companies. I get daily updates on my email. I read them all carefully. There might be a good deal in there.

On Saturday after I fed the birds, I sat and watched for a while, enjoying their raucous behavior and the sun. The sun felt good, but I will not brag on our fair winter weather so far. I might jinx it. I did wish I could plant something, then had to bite that black thumb. ‘It’s the first of February,’ I reminded myself. ‘Maybe we can think PLANT SOMETHING by mid March. Maybe. Get a grip.’

Do people who don’t garden realize how hard it is for those who do garden to NOT garden? I considered planting a peach or apple tree. I considered just turning over the soil shovel-full by shovel-full. Maybe a little bit of lettuce or a radish or two could pop up before another hard freeze. I ended up picking up trash the wind had blown in or the dog had dragged in.

And I watched my birds. Even though they are wild birds, after you feed them for years, they become your birds.

OK. I don’t mind a little winter. In fact a little winter at Christmas is nearly a necessity. If winter must continue through January, then I suggest some sort of festival in January. It could be a ‘Let’s Have Heat Festival.’ That would at least make January seem shorter, not the 31 long days it is already.

I like February. It is short. Darling Daughter’s birthday is in February, so that helps a lot. March is OK too because that is when Spring arrives, and Handsome Son’s birthday is in March. It is usually warm enough then to cook out. Woohoo!

When is that garden show anyway? Found it. Garden show in Fort Smith is March 17, 18 and 19. I can hardly wait.

But January? January goes on, and on, and on, until I develop Cabin Fever and try to dig the frozen ground up to plant a pansy. Or a bush. Or a tree. Help!

Wait. Wait, I told myself on Saturday. Do not get excited. Spring will come. The ordered seeds will arrive, and you will take the advice delivered by one of you gardening magazines.

That is “Keep Calm and Garden On.”

That does it! I’ve got to order an apple tree!