February rituals — prelude to spring

by Howard E Cummins

columnist

The month of February is a prelude to spring, a time of the year when nature defies the rules of the calendar and its arbitrary division of the year. It is a time when the air begins to change just enough to spur our sense of small with memories of past springs.

The air seems to freshen and blow down from the face of the clouds in this second month of the year, then it has a tendency to grow weary and faint just before the rush of March when the wind bellows across the hills and mountains.
There is something exhilarating about the brief month of February, from the very first day until it ends shortly thereafter. Its fast progression into March is a reminder of how quickly time moves ahead of us.
February prepares the innumerable bounties of springtime, and offers an unmistakable promise of its arrival with many subtle hints. Take for instance the sneaky little crocus popping up through the winter snow, showing their brave faces long before other flowers dare come out of their winter hiding places. This year they seem to be even braver, breaking into blossom long before the month has passed into memory.

Actually, there will be a number of plants actively attending to the business of making their annual debuts, but they are only in dress rehearsal, perfecting their performance before coming onstage. Nature has an uncanny way of preparing her subjects through discipline and practice, and the final results are more often pleasant than they are disappointing.
The ancient name of Februarius was derived from the verb “februare”, meaning to purify. In that simple word “purify” there might be found a reasonable answer to the demanding ritual of February spring cleaning. According to this tradition, February is a time to cast off the heavy winter garments of the past year, with all of it’s fuel dust and grime, leftover dried Christmas tree needles, cookie crumbs and odd household detritus.
“Better get all the spring cleaning done before it’s time to get outdoors in the yard and garden”, is the one single sentence that gets the entire production started. In my family, once it started there was no stopping until every last bed in the house had been moved from its comfortable anchoring place, the mattresses dusted, and everything in proximity had been vacuumed, scrubbed or repainted. Then came the vinegar and water solution for the windows, the beeswax for the floors, the lemon oil for the furniture, soapy water solutions for washing out drawers and wiping down walls.
Even now, when I get a whiff of Murphy’s soap I’m automatically transported back to memories of February days with my family and our anticipation of spring.

February is remembered by most people as the Valentine month and a time for lovers. But in some households where a family ritual is kept alive, the month is remembered as a month for scrubbers.