Guest columnist 

Lately I’ve been thinking about my dad, who passed away almost seven years ago. My father had a large number of subjects he really enjoyed talking about, but the one I remember the most lately was his stats and analysis of the weather. While his true passion was golf and his knowledge of the financial sides of business were second to none, his weather bullet points seem to stick with me far more.

I can still hear him telling me during these cold winter days, “The days are getting longer.” This was his way of explaining how after December 20, the shortest day of the year, we were gaining a little, little more sunlight each day. He also said each day would be two minutes longer than the previous one. I believe he learned this long before we all had hour-to-hour weather forecasts on our personal devices and so many stats that I really don't know what the majority of them actually mean. My device currently states that “pressure is 29.8 and currently falling and the dew point is 29 degrees.” I don't know what that indicates but it apparently means something.

From what I can gather of the “2-minute theory” it is more like one minute at the end of the day or sundown, and sometimes, but not always, a minute in the morning. Results may vary, as they say. Each day seems to add a minute but not every morning.

I always tried to think of the dark months of winter as paying back a debt or working through an illness. Each day it's a little better and soon everything is back where we want it. I used to always regard the March daylight savings time as “when life starts back up again.”

I can safely assume Dad’s early love for golf is what tied into his decision to monitor the weather with such intensity. In the northeast, we golfers know that the sweet spot for golf can be very difficult to find. He always concluded that May and September were his favorite two months for being out on the fairways, not that it ever stopped him from trying to play every other month that the course wasn't a frozen snow field.

I always look at the drearier months as something that makes us appreciate those perfect days even more. I truly miss playing golf with Dad on a beautiful day. I knew I had zero chance of winning but impeccable odds of having a great time for a few hours. It's those little details and advice that always remind me of Dad, and I’m grateful to have spent so many days with him out on a golf course while taking in the sweet sunshine.