Groundhog Day or Candlemas?

Winter seems awfully long right now. The holidays are over, and real spring is two months away. The valley I live in is almost always covered in gray clouds that sit like a lid on our town.

Yesterday was February 2, or "Groundhog Day." This day is also the traditional British festival called Candlemas. It's the midway between the shortest day of the year and the equinox, and is called Candlemas because traditionally Christians lit candles to mark the formal end of the Christmas season.

I find it interesting that this week I'm especially antsy for something to change. Nothing in my closet this morning worked except black, so I went to my job in black. I sent a whiny email to a co-worker. I came home wanting to be taken care of by my family. The dirty snow in the streets was really starting to bug me.

When I remembered that this week is Candlemas, it all made sense.

Mostly what I want this time of year is color. Two years ago I asked my husband for a sky-blue fleece ski jacket for Christmas, because I know what happens in February. He, being the nice man he is, bought it for me. I didn't like the texture of it and I felt like a marshmallow, but I kept it anyway. The color makes me feel like the sun's shining even in the dark.

Next week I'll be working at the floral studio down the street for Valentine's Day. Every year when I do this, I inhale the scents and the colors and dream about them at night. There was a blizzard one year, but the panicky guys kept coming and coming, and we worked until after dark cranking out the rose dozens. I know these flowers come from South America mostly, and that the conditions for the workers aren't good. Even so, I allow myself to do this work every February because it lifts my spirits to be around the organic shapes, the colors, and the scents.

I found the beautiful scarf pictured above on Etsy and it made me happy today. The colors are just what I need: sky, early spring green, and yellow. The scarf is designed and made in Belgium by Acke and can be found on Etsy. http://www.acke.etsy.com/. Please visit her site.