February

January clung like a dark shroud. Each day the sadness traveled deeper into my soul until there was nearly no light, no joy. I raise my head only to have in beaten down by the dull ravages of evil thoughts and feelings.

Okay, maybe January is not that bad, but I am still glad today is the first of February. For some odd reason, January and I are not on speaking terms.

It was my wife who reminded me of my issues with January early this year. It started with terrible back pain. I thought maybe I just strained it doing housework, but it just kept getting worse. Finally, around the eleventh I went to the doctor. He provided Vioxin and a muscle relaxer. A week later, I was fine.

Then the cold came. The cold ran from about the twentieth to the twenty-sixth or so, but I have a bronchial cough that won’t go away. I have tried different things that have slowed it, but not driven it away. I still believe I can beat it without going to the doctor. Besides, it is February now.

Thinking back over the years, I notice that the really difficult issues that have faced me often appear during January. Most of my serious physical problems have hit during January. Not all of them, but many of them.

Maybe it is because my birthday is during January. Maybe it is because I start thinking about taxes during January. Maybe it is because January is the toughest month to go without baseball. I know there are places in this country where baseball is played year round, but Illinois is not one of them.

February seems to be full of hope. February is full of promise. Valentine’s Day is during February. It is a shorter month. Baseball players gather in Arizona and Florida during February. The Cubs seem like winners during February. Yay!

If a year is a race, I feel that I have stumbled out of the blocks. Resolutions can be tossed aside because the fresh start has been wasted by the dark clouds of winter. February is still a tough winter month in Illinois, but we can often see signs of spring. When February ends, March appears and the real birth of the New Year is upon us.

Maybe I should abandon the calendar and consider March First the beginning of the New Year. It is a better month in which to start. You can actually see the beginning of life during March. Fresh leaves and fresh flowers begin to appear. We can begin to work on a new garden. We can clear away old sticks and leaves that failed to be cleared in the fall. Life truly starts in March.

Or maybe April.

Then again, I may just be whining. Maybe January is not such a bad month. The good news is that it is done. Welcome February! Stay and lets us enjoy you for a few weeks. Maybe four.

I feel better already!