I don’t know who needs to hear this right now, but: HOORAY, IT’S FEBRUARY! Traditionally, the second month of the year is not one that we attach much value to. It’s a non-entity of a month, a sort of tedious bridge to spring that we trudge over because we have to, rather than because we want to. Nothing much happens in February, other than Valentine’s Day, and everybody knows that Valentine’s Day is the worst of all the ‘celebrations’ – it sucks if you’re single, and it sucks if you’re coupledup, because your beloved will almost certainly forget it, or get it wrong.

This year, I want to acknowledge February. I want to honour it. I feel it gets short shrift, when in actual fact it has a lot to offer us. For example, coming immediately as it does after Dry January, it is always a slightly more joyous month, one where we have usually dispensed with the hardships of resolutions and stopped beating ourselves up for not being perfect. February is also when people stop having so many expectations for the year itself. For example, in January 2024 many of us were all: ‘Let this be the start of a new me!’ and rushing to set unrealistic exceptions of ourselves. But by February, I felt pretty confident that most of all have reached a level of acceptance, having decided that a Win Hof style cold water shower every morning in depth of winter was not a good idea!

February is a short but sweet month. It’s not like January, which just goes on and on and on, an endless month of days where it barely gets light and you are getting into bed by 5.45pm every evening. In February, you might start to see daffodils. There is that feeling in the air that spring is just around the corner. The days get a little bit longer, the temperatures get a little higher, and you may even be able to breathe in the possibility of spending some time in your garden. The light is a little brighter. The possibilities are a little closer….

Glittering sunshine
First of the year
Now I am certain that springtime is near
Franz Schubert ‘LONGING FOR SPRING’