Still winter? Peeks outside. Yep. Right. Just checking. Here are five things that kept me warm in spirit since the start of the shortest month that still seems to behave like the longest month.
Fave really early sign of spring: snowdrops. You can always count on these little guys. So delicate and yet so tough, holding up even under snow. How? Science!
Snowdrops in Maryland in late January. Credit: A. O'Brien 2. Fave trail magic: check out this snowman I found while hiking along the Appalachian Trail in Maryland the first weekend of Feb. Who built him? What's his name? What's his credit score? Nobody knows.
Safety first with the orange hat. Credit: A. O'Brien 3. Fave chompers: fossilized shark teeth from Chesapeake Beach, Maryland. Every year on my birthday, weather permitting, I take a trek out to the eastern shore of Maryland where, millions of years ago, it used to be a shallow sea. In that sea were monstrously large sharks. At some beaches near Calvert Cliffs, you can find their teeth in the sand. Every once in a while some punk finds an enormous Megalodon tooth. That is my dream. Until then, I take out-sized pleasure in collecting the teeny tiny ones.
Tooth haul Feb. 2025 4. Fave celestial objects: early February was a great time to stargaze. Local Milkhouse Brewery hosted an astronomical society at the start of the month and the set-up was perfect: beer, food truck, clear, wide sky and friendly faces sharing their telescopes. We saw: Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Venus, the crescent moon, and the Orion nebula. It's been a while since I've peered through a telescope. I forgot how fun it is.
Dusk at Milkhouse Brewery with the crescent moon and Venus Credit: A. O'Brien 5. Fave rage: Don't forget about "Killing in the Name" by Rage Against the Machine. It may very well be my theme song for the foreseeable future.
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