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First Cigar of Spring
In the second half of February, the sun is getting high enough in the sky to apply sufficient power to make some difference in local temperatures. When I was logging I would worry about that; worry about what an early thaw would do to my trucking road whereupon I hoped to ship my meager winter’s production, but now I am OK with that (i.e., retired). Now I like the February sun. My brother-in-law, a former pitcher and undying baseball fan (Milwaukee Brewers) who hates winter, has an ingenious way of expressing this.
On a day like today, when the sun is actually diminishing the snowbanks, he stands in the window and shakes his fist, and says, “Take that, snow! How do you like that?!! Well, you can look forward to some more of that!”
Winter leads to Spring. Thus the line, “Now is the winter of our discontent made glorious summer…(Shakespeare, Richard III).” Sometimes the gloom is so deep and so prolonged that it seems that it will never end, but it will. The descent into the valley does have an ascent on the other side, however distant – and it is with great joy that we greet it. “Weeping may endure for a night, But joy comes in the morning” (Psalm 30:5).
Anyway, today was like that. Still not warm enough to just sit, I was able to pace back and forth on the sunny side of the house with bare hands and have a cigar. And though still not warm enough for a comfortable beer, a couple of cups of chai with brandy made a good substitute. But the real cause for good cheer is enjoying the sun itself.
Published in GeneralWait on the LORD;
Be of good courage,
And He shall strengthen your heart;
Wait, I say, on the LORD. (Psalm 27:14)
Ah yes, one of my favorites.
I have never much liked smoking, (thank Gawd – since I have so many other vices), but I do love the poem.
We had a beautiful and sunny cold Sunday, with deep blue skies, and an intense sun that made it feel much warmer than the mid 20’s we eventually achieved. It had been 4 weeks since we broke above freezing, but like your brother in law, I exclaimed to my wife that it felt like spring. It is a good invigorating feeling. That feeling may wain some as we wallow in the coming slush, cold rains and ubiquitous mud that will envelop our little farmette soon. But Sunday was Glorious!
Back east, this is the middle of a stretch when it seems like spring will never come. The days do grow longer, but scarcely warmer. My wife’s birthday is February 18, mine’s the 5th of March; by now, you begin to detect a little difference.
In New York, St. Patrick’s Day is still cold, but seldom quite as cold as Thanksgiving. It doesn’t feel like spring is four days away. This “March comes in like a lion, and leaves like a lamb” is either a wild exaggeration, or it refers to English weather.
Are you telling me I won’t be able to plant potatoes the first week in March this year? It’s pretty rare when that works, but there is always hope.
Enjoy the smoke. Some call cigar smoking a vice, but I prefer to think of it as an homage to Jamestown and our founding.