It is the middle of February and all around me I see the ground covered in white. In the last three weeks we have had three snow storms, two of them closing schools and we have had to be plowed out three times.

Over the weekend the thermometer dipped below zero again and when it did go above zero, it only made it to the low twenties. With a strong northwest wind, that’s not much improvement.

Winter appears to be here to stay.

Then, over the last two weeks, I believe I have had the worst cold in recent memory. I will spare you any more explanation because I would be saying something you already know. Let’s just say I went through a lot of handkerchiefs and pills.

I am avoiding trying to sound like I am complaining. What I am trying to do is prepare for my next thought.

In another 60 or so days, the snow will be gone, the temperatures will be pleasant and there will be a lot of tractors sitting outside after spending the winter under a roof, where they have been since last fall, hitched to implements and planters.

Can that be possible? A mere 60 days from now?

Those coats and caps that hang by the front door that I wear anytime I go outside will remain on the hooks. I will just walk by them without even thinking of putting them on.

Oh, and another thing short sleeved shirts.

Wow.

We might even get to open the windows, even if it is only a few inches, for the first time in months and breathe wonderful fresh air from the outside, the kind that doesn’t pierce your lungs when you inhale.

The furnace won’t even care if we have the windows open. Maybe we will be so brave we will even shut the thermostat off.

We will run the car through the car wash to remove that layer of salt and grime. Dirty car goes in, gleaming car comes out.

Oh, be still, my anticipatory heart.

Can you tell I am tired of winter? It happens every year. This one is number 68.

However, we still have our work cut out for us as it will be a year of paper thin margins.

We’ve done it before with low prices. We hunker down and wait for better times. It’s the nature of farming. We rise and fall with the prices we receive.

Next fall there will be another harvest when we hope for full bins and better prices.

Until then, let’s wait because in the next 60 days, there will probably be another snow storm that is hopefully brief and we will hope the thermometer can stay above zero.

We have the increasing strength of the sun on our side assisting in our transition from this white covering to sunlit fields that will have returned to shades of brown and tan.

It all sounds so good and, imagine, it is a mere 60 days away.

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