By Micki Bare

After many months of frosty mornings, even though we know winter isn’t completely over, a string of mild days is a welcomed taste of what’s to come.

Warm spurts prior to the end of winter are like that small piece of crust grandma gives you when she sets a fresh baked pie on the rack to cool.

You know you can’t have a slice yet — it’s not time — but you relish every morsel of that little bite as it melts in your mouth.

You are not frustrated that it is only one bite. Rather, you become excited as you anticipate a plump, warm, sweet slice immediately following a proper supper.

After a week of mild weather, I believe I can hold out until spring. We might get a cold snap, even a few more flurries, before the spring and summer weather settles in.

But now that we’ve had enough warmth to bring on the tulip and daffodil buds, I am mentally prepared to go the distance and make it through the rest of winter.

Before the warm spell, I was getting a bit weary of the cold season. The cold, snow and sleet overstayed their welcome for a relatively mild Southern state. Don’t get me wrong, it was exciting when the meteorologists were predicting flurries for Christmas after we’d already had our first snow.

The first snow days were fun, too. My boys all slept in, I got lots of work done and Ma controlled the television until the boys stirred that afternoon. Hubby had homemade hot chocolate awaiting the boys when they finally came inside after hours of snowboarding, sledding and snowball fights.

It took until school opened again for the boys to thaw out. When most days during most winters in your lifetime barely dip below freezing, you don’t have the most wet and snow-resistant wardrobe in place for winter fun.

But they were not deterred. They took on the snow-packed grassy hills of our neighborhood until their clothes had soaked through and then re-froze. It only took about 30 minutes for them to peel off their frozen layers. Then it took another 30 to mop the floors.

After the first couple of weather events, my boys even helped with snow removal from driveways, sidewalks and cars. Of course, snow everywhere was a novelty — I doubt any Northern teens would be so eager to help with snow removal — and they were hopeful the roads would clear so they could borrow the car and head to the mall.

By the last snow day, however, things had changed. The boys didn’t sleep in as long. They were frustrated that yet another day was lopped off their spring break.

The novelty had worn off, so Hubby and I met with some resistance when it came to snow removal. Of course, the boys were still eager to meet up with their friends at the mall.

Ma still had control of the television because the boys spent their last snow day hiding in their rooms, texting their friends. I believe all the texting kept their fingers warm. Hubby never bothered to make more homemade hot chocolate, because no one bothered to go out and “enjoy” the white precipitation.

It seemed the winter blues, which many in the Midwest and North deal with annually, had spread to the South like an epidemic. And we were worried about H1N1.

But now, at long last, the trees are budding and I went four straight days without multiple layers adorning my body. Twice I enjoyed the outdoors sporting only a t-shirt and jeans. It was lovely.

Even as some cooler temperatures move in, at least now it seems only temporary, like a cool spell in the middle of summer. While I still have some time to pull out all my spring and summer clothes and pack up the winter duds, the spring-like days of the past week make it clear that those days are numbered.

Says Mother Nature with her preview of days to come: It is now time to shop for vegetable and herb seedlings. It is now time clean up the yard. It is now time to spruce up the outdoor furniture. It is now time to get the grill ready.

The impending time change to Daylight Saving Time this weekend will also help alleviate not only the winter blues, but cabin fever — a common side-effect — as well.

And if the warm weather and extra sunlight don’t help lift your spirits, I can always ask Hubby to whip up one more pot of hot chocolate to get us all through the home stretch.
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Micki Bare is a columnist for the Arkansas News Bureau and the Courier-Tribune in Asheboro, N.C., and author of the book, “Relative Expressions.” She lives in Asheboro with her husband and three children. Her e-mail address is mickibare@inspiredscribe.com.