It’s snowing as I write this. Which shouldn’t come as a shock because this is northern Illinois, and it is winter. The middle of it.

Really. Just try to disregard the 63-degree high Tuesday, which broke the modern record for a high temperature on Jan. 29. Or the 50-degree weather we’ve been having. And the rainstorms, accompanied by lightning and thunder.

Or the fact that I have not shoveled the driveway once this winter. And today is Feb. 1, and according to my calculations – the 2011 blizzard notwithstanding – winter is a goner. It might get really cold for a night or two. But it won’t last. It might snow now and again. But it won’t stick around.