February in northern Illinois demands patience, and for those with patience impairment, like myself, coping with the calendar’s shortest month can require some creative self-deception.
Snow is charming in December, particularly in the lead up to Christmas Day. We welcome snow’s arrival here in December and consider it part of the region's Christmas decorations.
We can endure January’s brutal cold temperatures because it’s January and this is the upper Midwest, and we know it’s suppose frozen and harsh. This awareness allows us to be mentally prepared to accept days of limited daylight and long nights that breed a sense of desperate isolation.
Despite our familiarity with January’s cruel realities, most of us have had enough of the snow and cold temperatures by the end of January. We are ready to say farewell to winter. That’s why February can be so challenging for the patient and the impatient alike.
By the first of February I am ready for temperatures that are climbing steadily warmer with each passing week. I’m not talking about temperatures in the 70s. Northern Illinois is cold in February; I get that. If it was 78 degrees here every Valentine’s Day we could give the place a new name, perhaps Northern Miami Beach.
No, I’d be fine if we were enjoying temperatures in the low 40s in mid-February. That's just not the way things are going to be here, and that’s why a reservoir of patience is so valuable. Those blessed with an abundance of patience have little trouble waiting until May for warmth to arrive.
The chronically impatient must spend February distracting themselves from the hard weather realities they see and feel.
I myself count down the days to when major league pitchers and catchers report for spring training camps, usually in late February. Perhaps this will be the year I join them In Arizona or Florida.
I fantasize about ways to celebrate the Spring Equinox (March 20). I’m considering a pig roast for this year’s event.
I make up possible brackets for the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament weeks before the team selections are announced for March Madness.
I listen to hours of Beach Boys music. Yes, “I love the “colorful clothes she wears, and the way the sunlight plays upon her hair.” I dream of a “surfin’ safari”. Jimmy Buffett’s “Boat Drinks” is something of an anthem at my house, and I often catch myself chanting, “I have to go where it’s warm.”
All the distractions and self-deception are a bit sad, but they work for me. They sustain me from one day to the next, and help move me steadily closer to warmer days in northern Illinois.
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