Walking Iten's Acres: Cold vs. Warm January 9, 2011

Cold vs. Warm

      I confess:  I waited until this afternoon to take my morning walk.  Why?  It was very cold this morning according to the thermostat.  Yep, I'm a wimp.  To my surprise, though, when I took my walk after lunch, it was quite pleasant.  There was no wind--a rare thing out here in the country.  It was totally calm and felt warmer than it did last week when it was near thirty but windy.  I was tempted to take my chair to the top of the hill out back and just sit for awhile basking in the serenity.  I swear, you could touch the peacefulness.
      To be honest my warm-blooded friends I prefer cold in the winter rather than warm.  (No.  I'm not warm-blooded.  I was a teacher, remember.)  Why do I not like warm spells in the middle of winter?  Well, one reason is I'm paranoid.  I can just imagine a week or two of warmth deceiving my plants into thinking spring has come.  Up would come the flowers; out would come the leaves; then, back would come the cold.  Disaster!  I know, the chance of that happening in December or January or February is practically nil.  But still I worry.  I mean you can see the depth of my paranoia in that last sentence "practically."  I also let the warm day stir my expectations.  You see, winter is the time of expectations.  I spend the time imagining which of my new bulbs and plants are going to survive their first Ohio winter.  What new beauties am I going to get to enjoy next spring--and summer--and fall?  And what unexpected surprises am I going to have starting in the spring. (I guess "unexpected surprises" is redundant, eh?)?  Anyway, a warm day gets the expectation genes energized way too soon.  So, as Frost would say to my plants and gardens if he walked my acres with me:  "Goodbye, and keep cold."
     Warm, warm, stay away.  Come again some April day.