Growing up in the farm belt in upstate New York, you would often hear the farmers discussing the January Thaw.  A seemingly predictable week of warm weather in the 2nd, 3rd or 4th week of January that would snap the winter doldrums, fling open the windows and get everyone thinking about Spring.  Many farmers would fire up their tractors hook-up the disc with the notion of getting the back 40 ready for planting.   More often than not all they would accomplish is showing of their machinery in a great parade of tractors, each one bigger than the next -- chained to the previous one -- and stuck in the mud.

On Long Island you can't call it a 'Thaw' but their does seem to be a smattering of nice weather when I get to go outside and start cleaning up the lawn and garden beds.  Today I got outside and raked leaves until my arms ached.  It was a wonderful time but I refuse to get lured in to thinking that Spring is around the corner.