Bye-Bye, February!

... And Don't Come Back!
Earlier this week. I was preparing a schedule for the next few weeks, and realized it was so great to write ’March’ in the heading.
We have experienced a brutal February.

And, we Maritimers are not alone: folks from New England all the way down to Georgia have had (and are having) record low temps, snow and ice.
Low temps here - minus 30-degree Celsius in Bedford - have persisted since before the last week of January.
Because it affects everybody, certain phrases have re-entered our conversations:
‘Flash-freezing:’ The storms came by from the Eastern Seaboard, and brought: blizzards, with white-outs and strong winds, usually followed by freezing rain, then ordinary rain (great for flooding, because most storm drains can’t be found), and then, by ‘flash-freezing’ which made everything turn into concrete!
‘Snow days:’ There are so many, five here in Halifax and 11 in Moncton, School boards are wondering what to do about make up days; having classes on Saturdays, canceling teacher Convention days and class trips, or adding teaching days in June.
‘Blizzard bags:’ A system of giving students assignments to put in their book bags, to be completed on line during snow days.
‘Snow on the ground:’ Moncton has two+ metres, while we are in Halifax have (only!) about half of that amount. It makes driving difficult, because of two-metre snowbanks, it's difficult to see around corners.
‘Ice on streets, and on sidewalks.:’ In some areas, it is next to impossible to walk.
After more than two weeks, you would think that commercial firms would have cleared their entrances and parking lots. But in our neighbourhood, such well-heeled companies as Sobeys and TD Bank (a.k.a., “America's friendliest bank”) are still making it difficult for their customers! About a hundred folks staged a protest yesterday evening downtown, but H-R-M has not been able to keep up with snow and ice clearing. In court, has even disavowed all responsibility for doing so, when lawsuits are launched against them.
‘Snow on rooftops:’ A number of schools have been closed for more than a week, because of damage from roof leaks. There have been several building cave-ins, such as arenas or horse barns, resulting in the deaths of horses. So far, no persons have lost their lives. There’s lots of heavy snow on balconies and decks, as well.
But, wait . . ., tomorrow is the first of March, Daylight Saving Time begins next weekend, and we are only three weeks until Spring (at least on the calendar!).
Some enterprising person should have great success by bringing out the following T-Shirt:
‘I survived the winter of February, 2015’.