Almost Spring!

February doldrums! It’s that time of year when even the agnostic among us start praying for a little warmth and sunshine!

I used to live in Alaska. It’s the kind of thing I can’t wait to tell my grandchildren, that I lived in a 1-room log cabin with no electricity or running water except for the river outside my door. Moose grazed the willows right beneath the windows, I made sure I could shoot a gun in case any hungry bears awakened from hibernation, and I cross-country skied to work. We lived in a gully, so what little sun there was in the winter disappeared that much earlier. It was that darkness, more than the cold, that could drive a person to do crazy things under the influence of “cabin fever.”

Now we live on the Olympic Peninsula, Washington State. Cabin fever takes a slightly different form.  The moss and mold is known to grow between our toes and the wind blows hard and the rain rains and rains and rains. There is no escape. February is the worst. It’s the month when even the most weathered have to “get out” – no matter what it’s doing out there.

Today, however, was an incredible day. The sun was out in rare full glory, and the mountains, brightened with white, were absolutely spectacular. The sun was at just the right angle to illuminate the moss hanging from the trees. The moss carpeting the river rocks, when examined closely, were covered with tiny hairs. I came across a family of deer, a buck, doe, and a yearling, who were ambling casually along the shore of a lake, also enjoying this rare break between storms. We must be on the verge of spring!