What Winter?

I have noticed that it is getting dark later and on some days the temps are such that I only need a light coat. Spring is coming…sigh. But where was winter? Where were the freezing temperatures and colossal snowstorms that had school children crossing their fingers and meteorologists throwing around words like “bombogenesis”?

In years past, my brother and I would gleefully trade stories of the drifts in front of the doors that forced us to just stay inside for a while. Despite the crazy weather in the rest of the country New England, or at least Massachusetts, has gotten off easy. Up until February 12, 2019 we had received only a little over 2” FOR THE WHOLE WINTER.

Now it’s not that I love snow – although the first storm or two are pretty – it’s just that I have things to do!

What does a gardener do in winter you wonder? All the stuff he/she did not get to during the growing season. Since I am a small company, without lots of elves to help, the list is long. It includes things like filing bills, organizing financial records, tackling the piles of ribbon and accessories that were used for holiday containers, cleaning tools and returning them to their proper homes (anyone seen my Felcos?). Of course there is also the requisite daydreaming over catalogs. I hide my stack in out of the way places so my family won’t question me when I say I am busy. If winter is long enough I may even get a chance to do some things around the house – paint the guest bedroom, reupholster the Morris chair, clean out the linen closet, and have breakfast with some friends.

But with this winter no such luck. Things are undone and may stay that way.

I know many of you are ready for spring and never fear I will be too.

But if we got just one or two more good storms I could finish going through my catalogs.