First I put them on - then I took them off and now they are back on. My father put them on faithfully after the first snow fall in October and took them off only on the first day he saw a robin in spring. It didn't matter if he "went south" for a holiday or stayed home to watch the blizzards howling in Alberta. He simply learned through experience not to shock his system and catch a cold and wore them, faithfully, every day and night all winter.
As you have already figured out we are talking about long underwear here. He attributed missing those spring colds and flue bugs and his longevity to them because he really didn't care what other folks may have thought or done. His favorite story line was in 'The cremation of Sam Magee' and the part where Sam wanted the furnace door closed as it was getting cold in there.
But we moved out to the Okanagan where it rarely freezes hard or snows. This year I was pruning grapes in January and February only to be surprised (and almost froze to death) because I prematurely cast away the 'old faithful long underwear' too early. It actually got too warm outside. We even have robins that did not go south for the winter, so my dad's red-breasted gauge also was confused. There are dozens of plants (like my tulips and blue bells), birds and critters that have been tricked, as has the green grass. My neighbor has actually fired up his riding lawn mower and done a cut already.
So, here I am in the third week in February wearing my old friends again. It snowed last night and by noon it was up to 40 degrees on the old Fahrenheit scale. Mother Nature is playing a game on everyone again this year and allowing the 'Green House' idea to really catch hold. Every second person I have run into today has a cold. Watching television commercials broadcast all those wonderful cold and flu remedies tell me that they know when people forget to keep their long underwear on and they are making a bundle.
I still get reminded of earlier winters and the memories of being caught with frozen pipes and summer tires as the days get shorter and that cold wind whispers through the hair in my ears.... "time for long underwear....time for long underwear".
But spring is sneaky. We want it so bad we want to jump the gun. Cabin Fever kicks in and digging out the fishing gear seems almost a frantic need. I get into spring bulbs and wonder why my good wife doesn't get caught up in all this new life energy and start wanting to clean windows. Not smart. I am glad it snowed.
I am, again, wearing my long underwear and through the still lifeless branches of our old willow tree my father's words come whispering to me again. "You can't hurry Mother Nature way up here north of the 40th. She's likes to tease. What you have to do is work hard.....really hard; save up lots and lots of money and go south in February for a holiday. But don't forget to pack your long underwear. It has been know to snow in Yuma in April."
I also know it is not wise to suggest to one's wonderful wife that it is time to clean the windows just because one is stupid enough to dig out last year's fishing gear. It is nice, though, to remember the wise gray haired old groundhog I loved who would still have had his long underwear on this time of year. |
