by Curt Kovener 
Last Thursday was the Ides of March, the midpoint of the month and yesterday, March 20, the Spring Solstice was observed marking the first official day of spring.
Which got me to thinking how wrong the Ground Hog was to claim we would have six more weeks of winter. Of course by the calendar he was right. Just over six weeks past Feb. 2 is the first day of spring.
I will soon begin my sixth decade on this earth and I never have seen a warmer winter that what we just went though and (so far) a warmer premature greening spring.
And I have never observed a man mowing his grass on St. Patrick’s Day like I did Saturday.
And I never swatted a mosquito in March but I did on March 15.
And I never picked a tick off of me that was crawling this early in the season like I did on March 18.
And while reclaiming the rain-rutted lane in the wilderness, I never have trimmed green briar and multiflora rose this early.
And on Sunday as I trimmed back saplings and briars, I never saw yellow poplar trees with leaf buds the size of squirrel’s ears-something that usually doesn’t happen until April.
Remembering the folklore wisdom advising morel mushrooms are popping when Tulip Tree leaf buds are the size of squirrel’s ears, I have never hunted mushrooms earlier than I did on March 18.
And, perhaps, you and I were both disappointed that I never found any.
