"The heart has its reasons which reason does not understand"
                                  Blaise Pascal (1912-1977)

Northeast Regional Weather Watch: Fair and very cold (1,2,3,4) with snow (5,6,7), winds, and flurries (8,9,10). Cloudy in the northern region and snow in the south (11,12) turning fair and cool (13,14,15,16,17). Light snow or rain (18,19,20) with showers of rain and snow (21,22,23). Windy and colder (24,25,26) with more rain or snow (27,28).

Tornado Watch: The Almanack sees no tornado activity in the Northeast Region for the month of February.

Full Moon: February's full moon has become often called the Hunger Moon due to the great difficulty in finding food at this time of the year due to increased snowfall. Because of this, it has also been referred to as the Snow Moon. February's full moon will occur on February 9th at 9:49am.

Special Notes: "Punxsutawney Phil" will make his famous and much anticipated prediction on the coming of Spring on Monday, February 2nd. It is also Candelmas Day, the Christian festival of lights, a day that was marked by the present of many more candles then usual at mass services. Not only did the candles provide more light but also it was truly believed in early times, that they warded off illness and plague in the coming year. The US Weather Bureau was established on February 9, 1870 (only 73 years AFTER The Hagerstown Town & Country Almanack began forecasting weather!).

Holidays: Shrove Tuesday falls on February 24th and marks the beginning of Mardi Gras. Ash Wednesday follows on February 25th. Valentine's Day is on Saturday, February 14th. Do something really special for your sweetheart. Birthdays of Lincoln (Thursday, February 12th) and Washington (Tuesday, February 22nd) are both remembered on President's Day, Monday, February 16th.

The Garden: Begin to do some light pruning on those days when you can smell Spring. Make sure to seal all cuts well. Cut branches of flowering shrubs like forsythia, pussy willow, quince, and magnolia and bring inside for forcing. Begin uncovering perennials, especially if you live in areas where Spring comes early. Don't get rid of too many low-hanging evergreen boughs, though. You may need them to protect ground plants from that late-winter blizzard. Stay away from birches and maple for now; they often bleed sap when cut this time of year. They should be pruned in late Summer or early Fall. Remember to feed the birds!

John Grubers' Thought for Today's Living:

"There's beauty all around us when there's love at home"