February, It’s Winter…Wait, It’s Summer ,,,No, It’s Winter?

By Joan Whetzel

This winter has been way to warm. I think we’ve had maybe 2-weeks’ worth of cold days, a day here, 2 days there. And a couple of the cold nights hit below the freezing mark and killed off a lot of plant life around our neighborhood. The month of February has been so hot, I swear we’re already having summer.

Well, hot weather means new growth. So, we figured if it’s hot out we might as well get rid of the dead stuff and start cleaning up our yard. Wait and see what comes back. Which we’ve been doing the last couple of weeks. Pulling weeds, clearing out dead plants, trimming trees, sweeping up needles that the pine trees have been shedding like a herd of horses shedding their winter coats.

This morning (Saturday) we got out and mowed, front and back, for the first time this year. The grass wasn’t particularly tall, but it was starting to look a bit scraggly. We’ve been noticing most of our neighbors having the same idea about clearing out the dead stuff, trimming trees and shrubs, and mowing. Including one who’s been trying to get her husband to trim the shrubs for a couple years now. He kept replying that he liked them taller. He couldn’t get by with it this year. The winter/summer/winter/spring-fall/winter/summer took its toll on their yard too.

So right now, everyone’s yard looks a bit sparse. I noticed the garden center down the street has been doing the business this weekend. They can’t keep the grass rectangles in stock – yeah we had to replace a few in an area where we removed some paving stones. One of these paychecks, we are going back to see about some plants. In the meantime, we have planted some flower seeds – forget me nots, morning glories, and a few bulbs that started sprouting in their pouches.

I also washed my car this weekend. After I did, I noticed several of my neighbors doing the same. Both my next-door neighbors, and the guy across the street, were out most of the day Saturday working on their truck engines. I tell you, the last few weekends have felt like the lyrics from that Monkees song, “Pleasant Valley Sunday” with people out mowing, taking care of flower beds, grilling out – oh, yeah, the grills have been going every weekend. In February. I can hardly wait to see what the summer’s gonna be like.