Sometimes spring arrives in February. The ice breaks and the wind blows and the snow melts and the grass greens and the street sweepers sweep to rid the roadways of the sand and salt that stick in the treads of our February tires. The geese are here and the eagles, too, and sometimes the cranes arrive in February, honking excitedly at four thousand feet. They probably shouldn’t have flown north so early, but there they are. Up above this greening grass that prompted the golf courses to open. Twelve months of Wisconsin golf in a row, their ads sometimes say. Was that a Robin? It couldn’t have been.
Sometimes the men ice fish in February through drilled holes that pock the surface and keep the iceboaters on their toes. But other times the February fishermen launch their boats and troll through the night, catching walleyes as though it’s a unique trick to sit in a boat and wait for the rod to bend. They hold up their fish and the people on social media comment Way To Go! Sometimes, no, all of the time, I cringe at the excitement. My dad said the men trolled all night three nights ago, their headlamps shining brightly through the lakeside windows that are accustomed to the typical darkness of the February lakefront.
Sometimes it’s cloudy and windy in February and other times it’s sunny and calm. The sunny and calm days are the rare days, or so we’ve agreed based on our experience. I’ve lived many Februarys and the only thing I know for sure is that sometimes it’s sunny but most of the time it’s cloudy. Those are the Februarys when winter is here, which is not this February. Sometimes spring comes early, and when I’m showing homes later today my wife will walk our dogs and she’ll wish she knew where she left her sunglasses. But be sure to remember during these sometimes when the spring arrives in February, winter returns every time.