Loving it, but. . .

Our part of Ohio has moved beyond being "unseasonably warm." Yesterday a birthday gathering in the neighborhood found a group of women over sixty sitting outdoors in short sleeves as the temperature was still over seventy--at 6:00 PM--IN FEBRUARY. According to an article in today's Guardian, southern Ohio and many other Eastern regions are seeing spring conditions earlier than at any time since record-keeping began.

Part of me welcomes the warmth, my bones and breathing not doing well in cold. I love being able to pick daffodils on a sunny afternoon,

and the year's first creeping veronica is always a cheerful-making sight.

But--it's February. February should not be springtime in Ohio. As welcome as warm weather and spring flowers are, plant growth needs to sync with the needs of wildlife. You might notice the pollen on the veronica petals in the photo above: unfortunately, I have yet to see a single pollinating insect. If our native spring bloomers (which neither of the aforementioned plants is) bloom early, before some of the specialist pollinators emerge, these insects that depend on particular plant species may not survive. If other less specialized insects emerge and manage to reproduce early, before migratory birds start on their day-length-dependent journeys, those birds may discover reduced food supplies. Nesting birds may not find the protein-rich larvae on which the young of nearly all species depend. 

February should not be tick season in Ohio, but ticks are already being reported, and at least one acquaintance has had to seek medical attention for a tick bite. Yuck.

And did I mention hay fever? Earlier springs and later falls mean longer growing seasons, with more plants' seasons overlapping, resulting in more types of pollen in the air for longer periods of time. This is not good news for allergy sufferers.

As much as I love spring, these are worrisome signs.

Is it spring yet?

     I don't think so, given that the temperature this morning was a decidedly non-balmy 19 degrees, and the snow from earlier this week has not melted. According to Punxsatawny Phil the weather rodent, we will have six more weeks of winter, but to the ancient Irish,  February 1 and/or 2 marked the beginning of spring. (Hey, calendars have been revised over the years.)

    Having just checked the weather in the parts of Ireland where various ancestors lived, I see that it is warmer there than here this week with lows generally in the forties, weather that could perhaps charitably be interpreted as springlike. The dating of spring to early February seems to be related to the reproductive cycles of the sheep that were of such economic importance, providing wool, meat, and milk to the inhabitants of the island. The earliest lambs are born about now, and the ewes begin to lactate. Imbolc, as the day was known, was celebrated with foods made with milk, cheese, or butter (a tradition I can definitely manage). Pancakes with blackberry jam were also traditional (and probably not happening at my house, though I do need to use up some sour milk, and wonder if blueberries might do. . . ).

    People being unlikely to give up their celebrations, Feb. 2 became a Christian holiday honoring St. Patrick's friend St. Brigid, who may or may not have been the same as the ancient Celtic goddess. (And since she was a protector of the people and associated with poetry and learning, and Patrick seems to have had good intentions, I can almost imagine them collaborating.) The ancient practices continued, and a few more got added, such as collecting alms for the poor.

    This year, the Republic of Ireland has made Imbolc/St. Brigid's Day a national public holiday, the first named after a woman. Celebrations there include music by Irish women, since Brigid was a patron of the arts. 

    Listening to Irish music and eating pancakes with butter--much more my kind of celebration than heading to a lambing shed in the middle of the night.