Punxutawney Phil be darned; spring is closing in, it's a fact. January, the worst month of the year, is past, and we're on the steep downhill counter-clockwise slide into vernal rain and sunshine.

 

Yes, it is still cold. Snow is still in the forecast. But now, the bitter sting of winter air when I walk out the door in the morning feels less like a persistent fact of life to be born with gritted teeth, and more like a spiteful last slap from a defeated foe. We won! There will be miserable weather between now and the first of May, but it's much easier to laugh off now that we're done with January.

 

Sunshine, when we can get it, feels different now. It's not as watered-down and chilly feeling.

 

I'm not yet excited about the garden this year. I think I was at this time last year, but right now I feel like scaling back from what I've done previously.  We mostly want corn and tomatoes this year.  In about a month, maybe less, I can probably plant some cool-weather vegetables like peas, spinach, and broccoli. I still really want to grow some big pumpkins, but by the time I get to the point where I can plant them I usually don't have room.  The few I had did very poorly last year.

 

I noticed a few weeks ago that my mint has escaped the submerged plastic pot I buried it in.  There are little mint sprouts (I suppose they came from seeds, although I guess some roots might have made it out) coming up out in the yard a few feet away from the parent. Once they're out, they're out, or at least that's what I've heard. I'll have mint invaders coming up everywhere now.