Our long-awaited January thaw came in February this year. Winter took on a flush in its icy cheeks just in time for Valentine’s Day. After four weeks of subfreezing temperatures, the thermometer has “soared” into the 40s and Newtown residents are venturing outside again, walking their dogs, jogging, poking around in the snow for lost newspapers.

Several sturdy souls have been seen on ladders around town, teetering in the uneven snow, hacking away at ice dams (pronounced by the hackers with inverse emphasis) that have clogged their gutters since Christmas. These hapless souls have been driven to this hazardous condition by the tick, tick, ticking of water drops in kitchen pots placed beneath random ceiling leaks.

The only antidote I know for this condition is to watch the Westminster Dog Show, which was televised this week. For a cat, you see, a dog show is an extremely hazardous spot to be in. It makes a rickety ladder in the winter wind seem like a nap in a hammock on a summer day. Those watching the dog show on Tuesday night saw Josh, the big, black Newfoundland, win Best-In-Show. Josh was the only one who might not have appreciated the winter thaw since his handlers were setting up fans to keep him comfortably cool.

Superintendent of Schools Evan Pitkoff can identify with Josh. He says there has been a problem regulating the heat at the school administration offices in Canaan House. Staff members have brought in thermometers and recorded temperatures as high as 85 — with the windows open. On the last snow day Evan decided to come into the office even though the schools were closed. He was sorry that he did. The office was so hot, about 90 degrees he calculated, that the glue on his school board magnets began to fail.

The superintendent, by the way, was the first person to send in $25 to the Booth Library’s annual “For the Love of Reading” program that doesn’t officially begin until Valentine’s Day. But he has long had a reputation of being first. On his desk is an engraved paperweight that he was awarded in 1998 for being the first to send in his money for his high school reunion.

When the subject of a possible Indian casino in the greater Danbury area came up at Monday night’s Finance Board meeting, Mike Portnoy suggested, in jest, that Herb Rosenthal propose Fairfield Hills as a likely site. “I’d have to enter the witness protection program,” Herb responded.

Twice in two days recently, Jim Shpunt, who runs Town Hall South for the town, was saved from calling a locksmith by his spouse. Jim, who fights fires with the Sandy Hook Volunteer Fire and Rescue Company, was at a house fire in Shady Rest on the night of Friday, February 6, when he realized that he had locked his car keys in the trunk of his vehicle. Jim called his dutiful wife, Sue, who is an assistant town clerk, and Sue came from the other end of Sandy Hook with a spare set of keys, preventing Jim from having to call a locksmith.

The following day, while at Stevenson Lumber in Monroe — you guessed it — Jim locked his keys into his vehicle again. And again, he called on wife Sue to rescue him. Again, she responded to the call with spare keys, again unlocking the locked vehicle. Matrimony is teamwork, according to Jim. Good thing he’s got a permanent lock on Sue’s affections.

If you don’t think you’re going to make it until spring, and you need a little boost to keep you going, you might want to drive up to Hartford in a couple of weeks for the 23rd annual Connecticut Garden and Flower Show. The show runs from Thursday, February 26, to Sunday, February 29. But if you go, try to be there on Saturday at noon. That’s when Newtown’s own Sydney Eddison will give a talk on “A Perennial Border for All Seasons.” The show is at the Connecticut Expo Center.

You guys out there are going to need flowers sooner than that. Remember, Saturday is Valentine’s Day. Don’t forget the roses! And a little poetry won’t hurt either. It’s easy. Try something like this:

                                      My love for you,

                                      Has no beginning or end.

                                      So please come back to…

                                      Read me again.