Missouri: The Seven Shades of Winter

 

                    Icy serviceberry, Jefferson City, Missouri. January 2007. Credit: Mzuriana.

 

 

So I'm back in the Land of Winter. 

To manage this, I've got to break it into segments: 

1. The time change that summons the darkness, oh, too early, and too cold.
2. The winter solstice, the shortest day.
3. January 1 - at least we're now in the calendar year when will come spring! 
4. The entire month of February - the coldest and the bleakest and the longest month of winter, notwithstanding its actual number of days
5. The time change, bringing incremental daylight minutes in the afternoon
6. March 21: The first day of spring! 
7. Yeah! And every day in March that is without snow or ice or arctic temperatures is a day stolen from that bitch winter.