(Sunday Paper, Year VI, Issue 8)

I keep a pair of sandals by the front door.

You know, those Adidas kind of shower shoes, they just slip on and off.

I don’t wear them a ton - but if I’m wearing slippers around the house I’ll switch to the sandals real quick to take out the recycling or go to the edge of the driveway to get the paper or something.

I tell you all this because on Tuesday morning I threw on the sandals to brave the icy rain for a few seconds and grab the paper.

And I took a digger.

I landed on my side, popped right back up so no one would notice (the weather was so bad there was no one around), got the paper, and got back inside.

But I bring up the sandals because when I fell my legs went up in the air and one of the sandals went flying.

It was kind of hilarious - because I didn’t get hurt - and I wish we had a video doorbell because it would be fun to watch over and over again.

But as I changed from the soaking wet clothes I fell in into something dry and comfortable I thought, “I’m ready for spring.”

It’s great that we’re almost at the end of February here - pitchers and catchers reported to spring training this week, as sure a sign as any that we’re on the back end of winter.

And I can’t honestly say this winter has dragged on.

It’s not all that different than previous winters, pandemic or no. There’s the light of spring at the end of the tunnel, and the tunnel hasn’t necessarily been longer this year - it might just be shaped a little differently.

But I’m ready to be working in the yard again, sitting out on the deck….and not having to shovel anymore.

Working on watching the grass grow rather than making sure there’s not too much ice on the roof.

The big realization I’ve had this winter - and really not the entire winter, but just the past month or so - is how lucky we’ve been here the past few years.

This has been a lot of work, shoveling and brushing off cars, but it’s not really as bad as the worst winters we’ve had.

it’s just that comparatively speaking, the past few years have been a breeze.

This year we’ve had a more normal winter - a nuisance storm here and there, a huge storm a couple of times, a treacherous ice situation like we had on Tuesday, and then just a really pretty snow fall all day Friday that wasn’t very much trouble to clean up after.

And, of course, when you consider the suffering going on in places like Texas right now, we have nothing to complain about.

I’m just ready for spring is all.

Notes

*This is a sad update for anyone who has known me: I have no interest in March Madness this year. I saw a story about rankings and bracket predictions that came out this week and it did nothing for me. If the games get played and there’s some semblance of the usual tournament and even conference tournaments maybe I’ll watch? I don’t know. Maybe I’ll get excited about it? But as of right now I don’t realistically see myself filling out a bracket, something I did since 1993 (I have the paper records to prove it) until the pandemic cut things short last year.

*Here’s how I’ve been wasting my time recently: baseball quizzes on Sporcle. I can’t get enough.

*You can Like the Facebook page here, follow me on Twitter here.

*Big doings for Matt Sucich, in case you haven’t been keeping up. Another Counting Crows tweet about his new music, which I’ll never get tired of seeing. And there is an interview he did with Prudential that you can find on his Facebook or Twitter. That link earlier in this note leads to his website - you can do all the social media connecting from there.

*After a few months of in-salon haircuts, I didn’t want to chance it right now, so I tried another at-home job on Saturday. It didn’t turn out too badly - Kathy and I teamed up and though I might have messed up the sideburns and the back of my neck a bit we managed to keep it fairly presentable on top and close on the sides, the way I like it, rather than a full shaved head. It won’t win any haircut awards, but I’m feeling more comfortable, so goal accomplished.

*Still, I’ll probably be wearing a hat in public for the next couple of weeks.

*(The picture accompanying this post is pre-haircut, but as you can see the hat covers any evidence of hair.)