Over the weekend, all of us flipped our calendars from April to the next month. We saw the letters of the new month spelled with an “M” an “A” and then a “Y.”

But wait, when I go outside, what I see is the month with the “M” and the “A”, but the next letters are R-C-H.

This is not early May, it is late March. The weather tells me so.

My windows are closed tight and the furnace is running. That is March weather because in early May the windows are open, your jacket stays in the closet and a lot of seed is in the ground.

I have no seeds in the ground and I am glad I don’t when the night temperatures are in the 30s and the day temperatures struggle to get to anything above 50.

A few weeks ago, I considered the idea of time travel. I think it has happened. We have gone backwards.

The only thing telling me it is May is the calendar, nothing else. In case you needed a second chance with March, this is it.

To top things off, Sunday afternoon, the first day of May according to the calendar, I had the house closed tight with the furnace running while some inane television show is telling me about the coming global warming and how terrible everything will be.

As of May 1, global warming looks like an improvement around here.

There is every reason to believe that warmer weather is coming and who knows, we may go straight to summer and this will be the year without a spring.

Therefore, the seed potatoes that most years would have already been in the ground two weeks ago will be planted on May 3 (unless it snows).

Yesterday, the first of our fields were tilled in preparation for planting and from the way the ground worked up, we were not any too early.

Today the fertilizer is scheduled to be spread so progress will be made and hopefully by mid-May everything will be planted.

Last year at this time we were very early and this year we will be very late. But if everything is in the ground by the middle of May we can still have a good year once the weather goes back to normal and doing what it has in past years.

We will go into the fall not wanting an early frost and the chances of new potatoes for my birthday in early July have been reduced. This will be a year requiring more patience than usual.

My nephew is a senior in high school. Last weekend was the prom and this weekend is his graduation reception.

I saw the outdoor pictures of his friends and their dates all dressed up for the prom and from the amount of exposed arms and legs, I do not believe the outdoor photo session lasted very long.

When we attend his graduation reception this weekend, I would really like to leave my jacket at home.

Do I dare hope to be able to sit outside that afternoon with the usually comfortable early May temperatures while visiting with my family?

Of course, if planting is going full strength by then, attending anything other than a trip to get more seed or parts or anything else that is needed, will be the only event I will be able to attend.

Maybe my nephew will save me a piece of cake.

Rye is a Farm News staff writer and farmer from Hanlontown. Reach him by e-mail at crye@wctatel.net.