Monday Mishmash: the why is it not Spring already edition

It's the end of February. Once again, I wonder how that happened. Granted, the past few months have been very long in some respects, as work has been relatively insane. But, here's what's on my mind lately:

Spring is taunting us here in Montana. We had a couple of really nice days where the snow melted enough that I can actually see most of my road (because for SOME DUMB REASON the roads aren't plowed even in the middle of the biggest city in the state...*ahem* this absolutely pisses me off and I vent about it regularly :). And then it snowed again this morning. So, go figure. I can't wait for this winter to be over though--it's been a long one!I think I post about how much I hate winter almost every single time I do one of these.Who else out there is watching the USA implode and trying not to tear their hair out? Because that's been utilizing a whole lot of my energy lately, let alone attending marches, writing letters, making calls. I have always been politically minded, though I don't post about it much, and good grief, lately it seems that EVERYTHING I hold dear is under attack: the arts, sciences, free speech, the gov't checks and balances, equality, understanding and acceptance of other religions and ancestry groups. I really try to remain neutral in general in my public posts but it's crossed the line. People, this is my LIFE. I am a professor who teaches about science and how we are all human and we should treat each other as such. Why is this so hard to understand for some people?The end is in sight for my WIP. Maybe not revisions, but I am *this* close to getting to the end. This draft has kicked my butt, and I generally love drafting. Some novels though, I swear, they're more blood than ink!I wrote a lecture on writing research papers (and how to do academic research...because for *some* reason I revel in my students being informed, intelligent members of society who can check out sources of information). This is the last slide, because it cracked me up: