OK. So let's recap.

Winter came to us early on, I can't remember the date, but it was very long ago and far away. And we got snow. And then we got more snow. And before all that snow had a chance to melt away naturally, as Mother Nature intended it to do, we got even MORE snow. And then when we couldn't squeeze two car-widths by on our street, and the City had to issue a ban on parking on all "odd sides" of the city streets because of all the snow piled up everywhere, well, then we miraculously got more snow, and, yes, more snow, and then again, more... snow.

It has been quite a ride. Not so much for me, as I'm excused from snow-removal duties here now that my body parts don't work very well, but poor Paul. He did so much snow-shoveling this winter that he developed a "pinched nerve" in his left leg that we really weren't sure would ever go away. He had to have doctors' appointment, x-rays, CT scan and/or ultrasound, I can't remember which, and he was prescribed medications, none of which he took, but now that March has arrived, and there is the smell of spring in the air - somewhere high above us - his pain has gone away.

TOUCH WOOD!




Above and below are comparison photos of this place taken only a few weeks apart. Today I took the photos on the right sides, and the left-hand photos were taken at our last snowstorm only weeks before.





That's the way life is here in New England. Some winters are kinder to us than others. This one was not kind. But the fact that spring always seems to show up just when you don't think you can stand another snowflake, is comforting to know.

Today is Shrove Tuesday. I mentioned this before but I know very little about it, other than what my friend, Sheila, who lives in the beautiful Yorkshire Dales of Northern England, tells me. So Happy Shrove Tuesday, Sheila! I hope you are enjoying a pancake treat today in advance of Lent.

Cheers for an imminent spring,

Bex