Are you counting the days?

Winter is deep, and hanging on. Snow covers the ground. Icicles dangle from the eaves. Dogs set a new track record when they go outside to take care of business. The 10-day forecast on the weather app offers little comfort.

But hang in there, boys and girls. Spring is coming.

We know what spring means. It means seeing our friends and getting mud on our shoes and hearing the real sound of race cars, and not from a little speaker. Whip out that credit card and order the finest sound bar and surround speakers known to man, and they’ll still—still!—be a pitiful substitute for full-on race car noise, heard with our own two ears while perched on a length of board in the pit stands.

Sure, some of your friends are ahead of the curve at the moment. They went to Florida, or Arizona, escaping to paradise to watch wintertime racing.

You’d have been there too, except the lack of funds that has crimped your style—temporarily, of course. Or maybe it’s your bozo of a boss, who would turn into a hysterical mess if you weren’t around to keep things straight. The slave driver just couldn’t see the way clear to grant you some time off to head south for a few days, could he? Bozo.

Do not despair; your day will come. Right will prevail.

Remember last spring? Remember when the sun came out and you hurried to the track and ran up to the window to buy a pit pass? Remember how the sunshine felt on your face? Remember how the grass in the infield was dark green and already needed cutting? Remember how exciting it was to see cars roll out on the track for the very first time, and you could see who had new stuff?

Remember how chilly it was when the sun went down? But it was a different kind of chilly…tolerable, and temporary, and…well, not anything as desperately bad as February chilly.

You’ve been around this deal long enough to understand there are two seasons: racing season, and the rest of the year.

There’s talk these days that racing season might be too long, and there’s too much of it. That’s a fine debate to have, but not at this moment. Because when you’re stuck at work and the ground is frozen and you measure the time until your next race in months—months!—nobody should try to tell you the season is too long.

It’s not helpful when we see people on social media—you know, those people—who rejoice at the blizzard forecast and post pictures of winter wonderland. “Oh!” they gush. “I love winter…isn’t it wonderful?” These people are obviously a half-bubble off plumb, but let them have their moment. This too shall pass. Eventually the demons of snow and ice will be banished from the landscape. Spring will see to that.

The life counselors and motivational speakers talk about how important it is to have a good attitude. Attitude is everything, you know. The power of positive thinking and all that. Well, I’m positive I’ve had enough of this cold weather. I’m positive spring can’t get here soon enough. I’m positive I’m not going to miss the skin peeling off my fingertips from the frozen door handle. Positive.

But chin up. It’s almost here.

Spring is the season of hope, after all.

Are you counting the days?

 

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