March in Vermont

March in Vermont

The mornings are cold
By noon it is sunny and forty
Huge piles of snow blackened with dirt
Running water along the streets
The dogs walk with tails up, sniffing the wind
They flick up the muddy water onto their bellies
There’s a towel by the door to clean up
You’d like to sit in the sun in the yard but the blanket of snow prevents it
You think to shovel out a place for the Adirondack chairs.
You’d like to go without a hat but the wind hurts your ears
The sky drops 18 inches of snow in huge flakes
The next day the snow recedes in the bright sun
Until you can see the tulip tips peak out of the soil at the edge of the garden
It is cold enough to light the woodstove in the evenings
But you are tired of that, as you are tired of your sweaters
You’ve got a wicked urge to wiggle your feet in warm sand
A sunny day lifts you up
You expect Spring
You want to take off those noisy studded tires
But it may snow again
You remember that the last of the snow in the yard may not go until May
Oh March, you tease.