*cough* - *sniff* - *sigh*

February in Western Kentucky is my least favorite month. Not because my entire family has fallen victim to Sakpata, but mainly just because is sucks, in general. I always forget, every single year, how much I hate February. I should adore this so-called "month of love" being how that special Hallmark of a holidays resides smack dab in the middle of it. But no, February, at least in my town, is normally just cold, windy wetness and full of ill feelings toward Old Man Winter.

You can almost guarantee every morning when you walk outside to hop into your freezing vehicle the rain will be blowing at you sideways beating at every square inch of your face. Your car will creak and moan at the hell winter has put it through. Your heater will warm up only seconds before you pull into the parking lot to your job. And then it is back into the rain to the entrance to your building. You make several stops to the local CVS to sit in the drive-thru for 30 minutes to hear, "Your prescription isn't quite ready" even though it was called in 7 hours earlier. Your kids get diagnosed with RSV and you and your wife spend Valentine's Day on the couch coughing and sneezing while taking "kill the flu" medicine by the truckloads. Oh, by the way, Happy Valentine's Day, Angie.

It's a sick little game Mother Nature plays on us here in Kentucky. When most people think of winter they think November, December and January to be the harshness, coldest months. But never February; the month before Sister Spring awakens from her slumber to grace us with marigolds and allergies.

How is it that every year I forget that February sucks? I will not forget next year. I mustn't forget next year. Next year I will be ready to hate February before it comes. That'll give me something to look forward to.