You say tomato, Dan Quayle says tomatoe!!!

I have been reading blogs from bloggers who are out in their yards and gardens preparing for this years crops of flowers or veggies. Well to you bloggers I say....#@&%! and the lawn tractor you rode in on.

This winter has really been...to say the least...stressful. We have had an abundance of snow and when it is not snowing, it's grey and windy. So when I read a blog from a blogger in a warmer climate (which is anywhere but here) and they have proclaimed that winter is over and summer should be starting in two weeks....well it's depressing.

First of all lets clear one thing up. Winter is not the 1 week of the year when you had to turn on your electric heat. Winter is when you turn your furnace on in October and it doesn't quit spinning until May at which time you turn on the air conditioner to remove the excess humidity from the air. That is winter.

Winter is not counted in weeks. Winter is counted in months or 1/2 years if you live in the extreme north.

Winter is not designated so just because you had to wear a coat. Winter is when you wear a t-shirt, sweatshirt, hoodie, topped with a triple down coat and you still complain that you are cold.

Winter is when you get hoodie hair instead of hat hair.

Winter is when every pocket in every coat, sweater, and pair of jeans you own are filled with wadded up Kleenex. Yes, Kleenex...here in the north we don't say tissue. OR...TP..sometimes it's easier to carry a roll than a box. No really. I'm woman enough to admit it.

Winter is when you reach into your pocket for change (coins) and when you open your hand you find, a wadded up Kleenex or TP, a Hall's cough drop, pocket lint (from when you washed your jeans with a wadded up Kleenex in the pocket), and 4 pennies (economy is bad).

Winter is the time from when your nose start dripping in October (allergies from moldy leaves) until it finally stops dripping in April. Summer starts when your nose starts dripping in June because of allergies and stops when your nose stops dripping in September when the flowers die back. Only to start dripping a week later when winter starts again.

If you have proclaimed your 'winter is over', all I have to say about that is.....we here in the north probably would have wore shorts and flip flops through your entire winter. Winter indeed!!! Pshaw!

Those of us in the north wear our winters like a badge of courage.

"I remember when the snow was so high you couldn't read the stop signs."

"I remember when it was 20 below and you had to get up out of bed and start your car in the middle of the night, to make sure it would start in the morning."

"I remember when it was so cold Fido wouldn't go outside to pee and just held it until spring."

"I remember when my mother would bundle (yes bundle) us up and send us outside to play. But we couldn't move so we just stood there."

"I remember when we had to rake the roof because the snow was so deep."

"I remember when it was so cold my eyeballs froze." No...really sometimes you can hardly blink it is so cold.

I know what you are saying..."What the heck does this have to do with a tomato and Dan Quayle?"......I'm getting there...don't rush me, I'm on a rant.

So that brings me back to tomato, tomatos, tomatoes, whatever. One of the places or events I would like to attend one day is the Tomato Fest in Carmel, CA. You know the place where Dirty Harry was mayor at one time. I'd like to taste some of the more obscure heirloom types tomatos.

So anyways I was at the Tomato Fest website and found this poster.

I thought it was a hoot. I may have to order it for my kitchen. "Let me see, I know I have 4 pennies here.......somewhere.

Gene wrote...I remember when it was so cold, they canceled school (our school district was always the last to close for snow so we didn't have too many 'snow days', but I do remember the 'cold day' or two.