March begins this Friday!

Looking out the window at the foot or so of accumulated snow in my apartment building's courtyard, I can only sigh as I check tomorrow's forecast for another inch or so of the white stuff. By the way, white gray, and the sketchy black outlines of trees are the only colors visible on today's dreary Minnesota landscape.

The clouds up above are also gray. And according to the latest weather forecast, we're due for another inch of snow tomorrow.

Every so often, I take the elevator down to the lower level where we park our cars and as a precaution, I warm up my 1999 Honda Civic for a few minutes. It's a good little car – the engine roars to life instantly at the turn of the ignition key. I look forward to the day when I can pull out of the garage and onto the road to go for a drive and do a few errands. So far, thankfully, my groceries and household supplies are holding up; I even have a pot roast and some fresh vegetables to toss into my slow cooker.

Also on the plus side for wintry days, I have reading material from our apartment building's library – Readers Digest's Select Editions offers a few spellbinding novels to pass the time while awaiting a change in the weather when I can get out and about.

In addition to reading, I exercise and keep up with household chores – regardless of the weather, one has to do the laundry. I connect with family and friends by phone and email; and socializing with neighbors in my apartment building helps keep up my morale.

Did I mention that if I start running out of food and other supplies, I can order what I need online to be delivered at my door in a day or two?

In sum, I have little to complain about on this gray February day, and it just occurred to me that March begins this Friday – whoa! March is the month when Spring officially begins! That's when little yellow dandelions shoot up through green grass to brighten Minnesota's gray landscape.