February is a maligned month, not even given its fair complement of days. While we cherish the frosty nights of October and welcome cold and snow for the Holidays, many of us are tired of winter by the time February comes along; we see it as a gauntlet that we must survive in order to reap the rewards of spring.
But February teaches us patience as it inches us toward the season of renewal. The days are gradually lengthening, bird song is increasing, the earliest crocus tips are poking through the soil and, by the end of the month, tree frogs are chirping from the wetlands. It is best that we take this month day by day, savoring the slow transition from winter to spring. We live too fast as it is.
