harbinger

According to Wikipedia: a crane fly is an insect in the family Tipulidae. Adults are very slender, long-legged flies that may vary in length from 2–60 millimetres (0.079–2.4 in) though tropical species may exceed to 100 millimetres or 3.9 inches.

In appearance crane flies seem long and gangly, with very long legs, and a long slender abdomen. The wings are often held out when at rest, making the large halteres easily visible. Unlike most flies, crane flies are weak and poor fliers with a tendency to "wobble" in unpredictable patterns during flight, and they can be caught without much effort.

Adult crane flies feed on nectar or they do not feed at all. Once they become adults, most crane fly species exist as adults only to mate and die.

I was very surprised to find this dead crane fly or, more commonly called, mosquito hawk, next to my keyboard this morning.

The mosquito hawk has always been my personal harbinger of spring but I believe this little guy has been misled as it is still January albeit a very temperate January. Currently it is mid-70s. It's supposed to be cooler tomorrow but the next several days also in the mid-70s.

Although we have had a few nights down to 30˚ and several weeks of highs in the 50s, we are having a very temperate winter so far and while I do have on blue jeans and a long sleeve shirt, I am also sitting here barefoot with the door open.

We had been having mild winters before the last bittercold two reminded us what winter was about with snow and ice and wind and temps hovering in the 20s for weeks and coming too soon and reluctant to leave. But we had been spoiled. Tropical plants got put in the ground and never died back.

Our winters usually consisted of 4 - 6 weeks of continuously cold weather, a couple of three freezes that never lasted more than a night or two preceded by and followed by several weeks of changeable temps and then spring.

It wasn't always this way. I remember having a winter coat as a kid, a heavy coat. And back before we could wear pants to school (not til I was out of school), I was cold all the time. I think I've still got a winter coat tucked back in the back of the closet somewhere but I can't remember when it was I last wore it. Silk long johns, a jacket, and a hat do me fine mostly. Or I just don't go out.

But back to the mosquito hawk and spring. I hope that this little guy was just confused. I haven't seen any others and I don't really want it to be spring yet even if it means several weeks of consistently cold weather ahead. Not in January, too soon in January. Or even February, unless it's late February. March is good though. It can be spring in March.

Early March.

In the meantime this has not been a bad pattern.

A few days of cold, a few days of warm.