February should be re-named Feb-u-dreary

“February” is an old Indian word that means “don’t look now but your wampum is frozen.”

At least that’s one interpretation. But even if something is lost in translation, there’s no denying that February is one cold, weary, dreary month.

The Indians called it the “Starvation Month.” By February the winter food supply would start to run low, with spring still many moons away. Things tended to get testy in the teepee along toward February.

The same could be said about the cabin down the road. When old-timers talked about suffering from “cabin fever,” they weren’t kidding. Being snowed in with Ol’ Jeremiah  for months without anyone being able to take a bath could stretch tensions tighter than a dried beaver pelt.

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