February actually had some snow!
It can be quite demoralizing to see just how far winter has rotted down to a soupy, boring mix of gray skies and brown. In the past 4 years, I've seen the same quantity of snow across that time as we used to get in one season; I've cross-country skied only enough times to count on a single hand, I can no longer go ice fishing within 40 miles, and sledding with the kids we've had since then just managed to squeeze in this year -- for a week. A week!
The 3-to-4 weeks of frigid cold is now down to just one, maybe two. The snow doesn't get enough time to accumulate before it melts. I simply no longer trust the local lakes and ponds enough to walk on until late in the season, and even then there is no risking taking a vehicle on 'em. It's a rolling tragedy that our winter is getting milder and milder and milder still.
I love the changing seasons, much as I love the changes in my life as I approach that great middle mark. I doubt winters will go away for good (especially in the Midwest, where the artic air most easily squeezes its way down through a weakening jet stream), but the loss of their intensity and their beauty is something I'm going to have to mourn and reminisce as we enter this new phase of life on this Earth.
Musing on the end of all things aside, the kids are all right. I have my bones. I fixed my stovetop, which had troublesome burners because Wolf can't make a quality product. I'm investing some time into my home lab hobby, but I wish I had the willpower to return to books instead? I'm also spending some thought on starting my own business, but I don't quite feel comfortable in my own skin quite yet for that sort of investment into myself. I don't have any problems, which is a very good thing to say, but I still strain under the weight of brain fog and sleeplessness.
Thanks for reading my little dump of catharsis. I should write in here every day, just as another experiment in improvement.