Well, I managed to muster another three miles on my walk today, but only by taking to the streets once again. My boss was out so I figured I’d leave later, after everyone left for work and school, so I could walk down the middle of the street, like a horse. This method sure beats trying to navigate the sidewalks, which, due to yesterday’s high temps are swimming with deep puddles, light ice and mud … not so fun. The fractured streets really weren’t wonderful either, and a road crew had recently deposited loads of glistening patch material into many of the potholes, but since they didn’t tamp the material down into the holes, patching crumbles littered the entire street and will no doubt get scooped up when the City plow comes along in the next few days to scrape away tonight’s snowfall. As I muddled around the mud puddles, and patching crumbles and big ol’ holes in the road, I made several observations. Homeowners must have been really rejoicing over this Johnny-come-lately January thaw. Many windows were cracked open to allow the Spring-like air to creep into houses, stale with months of recycled heat and kitchen odors. I noticed alot of people have dragged out a few pieces of backyard furniture and their BBQ grills. It looked to me like most folks’ frame of mind sped right past Spring and into Summer. Likewise, unbelievably, I heard and saw two guys riding motorcycles. Gee, they sure won’t be using motorcycles within a handful of hours to be sure. I made three complete loops around Ford Park on Buckingham and Liberty Streets, that border the park, which garnered the bulk of my mileage today. I was amused to see robins drinking and taking a dip in the icy pools of water which have formed by the snowmelt in all the recessed areas of the park. One of the times I passed, I noticed several robins were wearing a puzzled expression because they kept trying to spear their beaks into the ground to find worms. Well, no worms on the menu for them today, because there was no way their sharp beaks could penetrate the still-frozen tundra. I saw several squirrels scurrying about with muddy paws, no doubt from digging up homeowners’ garden beds in a fruitless search for prized peanuts buried there last Fall and unavailable until now since the snow has receded. The world has seemingly come alive the past few days with our short-lived Winter thaw. As I walked up my driveway, I heard the unmistakable honking of Canada geese very close by, so I looked up to the sky, and there they were in perfect V-formation. I dipped my head and prepared to duck – they were that close. I walked into the house, and took off the pedometer and walking shoes and socks, wondering when I might be donning them again. Next week? Next month? Who knows? The respite in the wicked Winter weather was just what we needed, but it is a shame that we must now reconcile ourselves to the fact that before we go to bed tonight, the temps will drop twenty degrees and Mother Nature will whisk out her mighty snow-making machine, still one more time, to deposit another four to eight inches on our roads, lawns and our Winter-weary spirits. We all wonder why we are going backward, aiming for more Winter weather and not heading toward Spring? Winter persists … this time with a twist.