Warding off winter with a spring fix

Three degrees. Just three teeny tiny degrees. That's all my dashboard read during this morning's drive.

My hands were bundled in down-filled mittens. My body likewise encased in a down-filled parka. My neck was triple-wrapped in a long scarf. And my car seat heater was turned to broil.

I kept contact with the elements to a minimum, with mad dashes between car and destinations. It wasn't until my last stop when I could actually straighten up and smell the roses.

Well, not quite roses, but something just as special because they herald the start of another growing

season: miniature daffodils, known as Narcissus Tete-a-Tete, and primroses. It was like walking into the Philadelphia Flower Show, but without the crowds or hefty admission charge.

These early, early spring flowers don't mind a little chilly weather, although it's certainly too soon for planting in the garden. They'd do fine on a window sill or tabletop. Except if you have pets.

It's tempting to buy the first flowers of spring, especially while winter is making such an impact. But do yourself, and your pets, a favor. Check the list of toxic and non-toxic plants on the ASPCA website before you buy.

I know my cats are curious about plants and like to nibble, so I'll hold off buying these flowers until I can leave them outside.

For now, it's good to know there are a few places where I can go for a spring fix, if only to stop and smell the primroses.

Happy Trails to You

Well before Roy Rogers was a fast food restaurant, the man himself was a singer, actor, and America’s favorite cowboy. He and his wife, Dale Evans, had a TV show that aired before most people on social media were born.

I wasn’t around when “The Roy Rogers Show” started, and I don’t remember the reruns, but the theme song sticks in my head: Happy trails to you until we meet again…

Maybe, just maybe, that song has something to do with why I enjoy running on trails. Or it could be that pounding the pavement mile after mile can grow stale if not mixed with some off-road adventure.

I find trails rejuvenate my running by lifting my spirits and providing an ever-changing backdrop of scenery. Even winter trails are better than streets, with YakTrax on sneakers providing similar traction as snow chains on tires.

Some runners turn to treadmills in the winter, but if I’m not outside, I’m not running.

I know I’m not alone because the top spring race listed on Philadelphia magazine’s Be Well Philly is the Tyler 10K Trail Run at Tyler Arboretum, a Delco RRC event directed by John Greenstine (full disclosure, John’s my husband). Each year the 400-spot race sells out, and right now the April 11 event stands at more than 300 registered runners.

I have run this race several times, but these days I have more fun behind the camera watching runners navigate the course. Some runners hurdle the streams, some tippy-toe across, and others splash right through.

Me? I’m happy to record it all, sharing the trails that keep me running week after week, all year long.

Happy trails to us all.

Snow news is no news

I feel so silly sitting here waiting for Snowpocalypse or Snowmageddon or whatever portmanteau the weather wizards have dubbed the coming storm.

I’ve cancelled plans. My husband has set up a temporary office at the kitchen table. We have gas in the cars and food on the shelves. All we’re waiting for now are the flakes.

Last Saturday’s storm turned into a non-event, and we really didn’t need to cancel our plans to visit friends. At least we got to eat the chocolate cake I bought for dessert.

For tonight’s storm, which was supposed to be last night’s storm, there’s talk of feet of snow, or at least a foot or more. So far there’s been a dusting.

It was enough for me to do a quick pass over the driveway with the shovel. It was more of a warmup than a necessity. And, because I had shortened my gym workout, I wanted a little more exercise.

It’s not that I want snow to blanket the region, making travel difficult, causing cabin fever, and making commutes treacherous. Although it would be nice to have some “play inches” for some local snowshoeing or cross-country skiing.

What I really want is less nonstop coverage of snow that has yet to fall. Yes, forewarned is forearmed, but surely there must be some real news to cover in today’s world.

There may well be a major state-of-emergency, Nor’easter, blizzard, severe storm ahead. But for now, as I sit here waiting, snow news is no news.

Headlines that get noticed

Headlines have taken on great importance in today’s content-based, social, digital, marketing world.

Their job is to grab the attention of readers, search engines, news aggregators, and digital algorithms. They’re supposed to be simple, use keywords, and meet some need of readers. And, it seems, they should always provide 5 tips or 3 secrets or 9 points or 6 ways to do something.

Well, maybe. I write this blog to keep in touch with colleagues and to continually provide new writing samples for potential clients. I don’t worry so much about SEO or Google Search. What I do worry about is making sure my headlines are nothing like the ones below.

These are just a few I’ve read recently that cause me to roll my eyes and say out loud "Really?":

Headline: “Why it's so hard to pick oil's bottom”
Who hasn’t heard the saying, You can pick your friends and you can pick your nose, but you can’t pick your friend’s nose. Do we really need to update this to include picking something’s bottom?

Headline: “Chinese media to soak in Southwest Florida”
Soak? Maybe if by soaking you mean immersion in an uncomfortably hot, humid environment. At least that’s how I feel during my visits to the area. I would hope the headline writer would want to evoke a more positive image.

Headline: "Your Buying Auto Insurance Wrong!"
And this Internet ad headline is written wrong. Confusing your and you’re is a common error easily remedied by remembering you’re is a contraction of you are, while your is a possessive pronoun (it’s your turn).

Headlines: “Dow closes down more than 300 points as oil nosedives” (AP, Jan 5) in the same weekly roundup column with “Dow roars ahead 300 points after rough start to year” (AP, Jan. 8)
The way I understand math, and markets, if the Dow falls 300 points and then “roars ahead” 300, you’re back to square one. Even Steven. No loss, no gain. So why the drama?

I'm not saying any of these headlines is wrong (excluding the misused "your" headline). I just think they could be written better. Or at least in a way that doesn't distract the reader from the main story.

Now that I've had my say, I'm almost afraid to look back over the headlines I've written throughout the years. Well, any missteps will just reinforce my belief that every writer needs a good editor. That's my story, and I'm sticking to it.