Fantastic February

And so we have reached February.

Well, we reached February on Wednesday for those of you that haven't been paying attention.

But this is the turnaround month. This is the month that the days start getting lighter. Already of an evening it is almost still light as I leave the office. It's amazing. It makes so much of a difference. By the end of the month we'll not be far off the greatest rate of change of daylight hours, where the sun sets almost three minutes later each day.

And people are starting to feel happier financially. They've had their hermit January where they haven't seen anyone or spent money they don't have after Christmas. If anything, having been cooped up so long - and quite possibly abstaining from the booze as well - they are so cabin-feverish they are actually quite desperate to get out of the house.

And with February being the shortest month as well (though this year is a leap year so we have an extra day to deal with), the money is even easier. It does make me wonder why the abstainers (who all moan about it on Facebook not so much as you can feel their pain, but more because they want to feel rather pious about it) don't abstain for February in substitution as it is only ordinarily 4 weeks (and therefore four weekends) long. Presumably they have Valentines to wine and dine.

And then there's the weather. Whilst historically February is the coldest month of the year - and this weekend we are expecting the first really heavy snow of the season - by the end of the month you can feel the change, particularly with the change in daylight. It'll not be that long before I can start sorting the greenhouse out and starting sewing my seed. I can't wait!

And finally, for me at least there are now fewer than 10 weeks before my great adventure. I'm off down South. Down VERY South: New Zealand via Honk Kong and back via San Fransisco to bring a friend home. At the beginning of January, though only a few weeks ago, it still felt like the quarter of the year that it was. Now it feels like the only-just-over two months that it is. Semantics are beautiful

Happy February