February

February: 

by far my favorite month of the year is June, as the slow build up of foliage peaks with a near magical shade of green, thick with life, and the days not yet reaching the more oppressive heat of later summer - it's a month that seems to stand apart from other seasons in my mind, a complete occasion of it's own, filled with a particular essence I adore. Today however, is the first of February, with a leap year adding an extra day, seeming to prolong winter just a little longer. But this month too holds a place in my heart, often providing me a first hope of spring even as a following day might rush the present season back to focus, with snow and bitter winds once more. 

February reminds me that it's still winter after all. 

and to take no warmth for granted.

a lesson relearned every year.

still things become more active in this month, nature preparing for the spring ahead, days slightly longer, and I cherish every moment of extra light. We're on the edge of changing seasons, and February is a month of subtle shifting towards the sudden burst of spring of March and April. It's a careful time, tentative, as if testing the boundaries of what winter will allow, and any step too far from the borders of the present season will be reigned back by a following day of ice and snow.

it's still winter after all. 

as well, February is the birth month of my father, a blizzard day in 1927, late in the month but winter lasts longer in the rolling mountains of northern Pennsylvania. My father was born at home, no medical aide present, his oldest brother tasked with the mission of bringing the nearest doctor from over the mountain using horses and sleigh, arriving back just moments after my dad was born. I never tired hearing this story, it seemed to mark my father as someone special in my eyes. 

and of course he was, 

so I celebrate February, for all that it offers, not asking for spring, but allowing the month its own unique expression without my demands for it to be anything other. In a way, it's very similar to June, a month on the edge of seasons shifting, being a complete occasion of its own. Today, February begins, and I'm eager to explore everything it offers.

even if it's still winter after all. 

~

Peace, Eric