Ode to winter: Daisies, tulips and weeds; oh my!

The world is out of whack and all I can do is wonder when Mother Nature will take note. In my bizarre, abstract, literary way of thinking, I’m also wondering what Shelley – as in Percy Bysshe – might have to say about the unseasonably warm temps hanging out here in the Land of Cotton.

After all, it was Shelley who once wondered “If winter comes, can spring be far behind?” Well, what happens if winter never really blows its chilly way into the area? Will we simply go about our lives in a state of eternal tepidness? It’s a quandary!

Here I am in the oh-so eternally gray month of February, wearing T-shirts, shorts and sandals, watching daisies and tulips push their way through the earth. The flowery bits of whimsy that bring life and color each spring to my little corner of the world are showing off way too early, confused by the heat of a wintry day.

Trees are blooming, azaleas budding and, oh-so horribly, weeds are stretching their leafy tendrils much too soon across my lovely bare lawn. Another week or so of sunshine and I’ll be forced to push the cobwebs aside in my utility shed and waken my lawn mower, weed whacker, hedge clippers and blower.

So I’m hoping – well, praying – that Mother Nature comes to my rescue. It’ll only take a little cold snap to put things right; a day or week of frigid temps; maybe a bit of ice to cool things off!

Unwilling to leave myself and my needs to the capricious nature of, ah, nature, the lovely Miss Wendy and I will be jetting off in a week or two, searching for winter in the Big Apple. Highlights will certainly include eating our way through a few iconic delis – can you say HOT PASTRAMI – listening to Sutton Foster remind us that “Anything Goes”, tapping our tootsies at a Barry Manilow concert at, wait for it, Radio City, and – please – feeling the rejuvenating slap of an icy breeze across my face as we walk along Fifth Avenue!

And then, refreshed, I can return to Dixie, settle in for a slow thaw and wait for the warm embrace of March. If winter comes – even if I have to travel a 1,000 miles to find it – can spring be far behind? I’m hoping!