MANVILLE: Hang on — signs point to spring

   This is your mid-winter morale booster. Hang in there, we’re over the hump and speeding toward spring.
   You see the signs, if you look for them.
   Punxsutawney Phil, that furry rodent roused from his lair annually Feb. 2 on Gobbler’s Knob in Pennsylvania, didn’t see his shadow this year. His counterpart, Staten Island Chuck, agreed. Ergo, spring will come early.
   Major league baseball pitchers and catchers report Monday at most camps with full team workouts by the end of the week. There are few surer signs of spring — and hope eternal, depending on your team.
   We’re just a little more than a month away from March 10 when we spring ahead with the clocks and gain that extra hour of daylight in the evening. Until then, haven’t you been enjoying each day’s extra minute or two driving to and from work?
   Once we get past tomorrow, when we’re supposed to get an inch or two of snow, there’s no white stuff in the forecast for the next two weeks, at least. Even though it’s been cold, you can’t complain about snow this year. You’ve barely lifted the snow shovel, certainly not enough to strain a muscle.
   And that’s certainly a boost to the local governments’ snow removal budgets, and, therefore, your tax dollars.
   If you are an intrepid gardener, your tomato seeds should be on order, at least. And we’re nearing the point green thumbs can prod seeds to become seedlings, although the ballyhooed date for outside planting is probably a full three months off.
   You might be at least thinking of losing a few pounds, and putting in some serious time at the gym. High school students are well into rehearsals for their spring musicals, and Project Graduation in Hillsborough has a Feb. 23 date for its annual resale of prom dresses.
   There’ve been no crocus sightings yet, but remember last year’s unusually warm March? It’s the one time of the year when global warming isn’t a bad thing.
   If you count the days, we’re just about right at the halfway point to March 20, the first day of spring.
   Look around. You’ll see the signs.