Stevieslaw: March Happiness.

Here is Central Pennsylvania, just after the start of Daylight Savings Time, we can count on 12 hours of night and 12 hours of gloom. The temperature profile for the next few weeks is simple—high of 28, low of 19. We can also count on flurries—not snow exactly—just a few particles of snow made fierce by the biting wind. And no, the roads here are no better than they were last year. After the usual winter damage of our already poor roads, driving is like a Mogul Skiing event. On a good day, you do not shake off any critical parts of your car. So we link happiness to small things—fifteen minutes of actual sunlight, an early songbird’s hopeful song, and today, for me, Conor Lamb’s win over Republican Rick Saccone in a Western Pennsylvania District so gerrymandered that Democrats didn’t even contest the House Seat in several recent elections.

The Republicans threw everything they had at this election, including a 90 minute appearance by Agent Orange in his role as nutjob in chief. Rumor has it that other House Republicans are writing to the White House to say, “No need for Trump to visit my district—I have this.”

So on this March 14th, with the temperature hovering at just below freezing, snow flakes peppering the sky, the sun in hiding, and the songbirds huddling under rocks, I can still be happy. It feels like spring is on the way.