I have a question.

Has it been a relatively easy winter for you, or has it been pretty rough?

I guess my answer would be that it has been pretty much a roller coaster of a winter, at least here in Faribault County, Minnesota.

We’ve had some snow, but not a lot. I think I have fired up the snow blower maybe three times and shoveled a half dozen times or so. Anybody remember the 13 inches of snow that fell in Blue Earth the day before Thanksgiving?

What snow we have gotten seems to have disappeared after a while. I know that I have only cross-country skied once. That 13-inches back in November is long gone.

That’s because we have had some cold spells, what with the Polar Express (I mean Polar vortex, of course) and those pesky Alberta Clippers passing through from time to time. But, we have also had some pretty mild weather, which melted what snow we had instead of it lasting all winter and building up into massive piles, especially at the end of my driveway.

January was not too bad, at least by Minnesota standards; however, February has been much colder and certainly made up for it. Thank goodness it is a short month and we are through with it already.

People living in places east of here, such as Tennessee, Georgia, New York and certainly Boston will not agree with my assessment of this winter. I think they are getting the winter we usually get. Schools closed in Tennessee and Boston topping 100 inches of snow.

Even places like Florida have been chillier than normal.

Places west of here, such as California and Arizona, have been having a milder than normal winter. It all has to do with the Jet Steam, of course. Or so those weather pundits keep saying.

The problem with winter in Minnesota is that it is just too darn long.

But hang on folks. I think spring is someday going to arrive.

A recent trip to northern California over the Presidents Day/Valentines Day weekend gave me a glimpse of it. This wasn’t Southern California where it is always pretty pleasant. The town of Ripon, located 80 miles east of San Francisco, has the change of seasons.

They have fall, where the leaves need to be raked, and winter when the temperatures dip down to near freezing and they need to scrape the frost off the windshields in the morning and have a fire in the fireplace at night.

And, of course, they have summer, when the temps can top the 90-degree mark for days on end.

But, they also have spring. It was coming early this year, on Feb. 14, with flowers blooming and bushes budding out.

And all the almond trees were blossoming just in time for the town’s annual celebration, the Almond Blossom Festival. The orchards that surround Ripon (like cornfields surround Blue Earth) were white with blossoms and resembled frost covered trees.

All of this brings me to the point of this column.

Why is there a Groundhogs Day and who came up with that stupid idea?

I know, I know there is this town in Pennsylvania and if the big, fat rodent comes out his burrow and sees his shadow on Feb. 2 there will be six more weeks of winter.

My question is, six more weeks of winter where? Just in Punxsatawny, Penn.?

The people in Boston are hoping all their snow will even start to melt in six weeks. We here in Minnesota would be thrilled to have just six more weeks of winter after Feb. 2. We are hoping we don’t have six more MONTHS of winter.

Hey, I am serious. I have seen snow here in late April. And I think the latest it has snowed in Minnesota is sometime in June.

And, when that groundhog sees his shadow in Ripon, Calif., it means there will only be six more DAYS of winter in that small town.

It all depends on your perspective and your location.

So hang on. It’s now March. And while this ‘in like a lion, out like a lamb’ month has a habit of being our snowiest month in Minnesota, it also harbors all those first few signs of spring.

At least, I certainly hope so.

Despite the fact this has been a fairly decent winter here in Minnesota, I am getting fairly tired of it.

It just lasts too darn long.