Could it be the exhaustion from long and dreary winter months with no immediate holidays on the horizon? The bleakness of more snow and cold? The hope for a warm beach and gentle, rolling waves? Maybe it's the endless hours spent commuting in the dark? The romance of Valentine's Day spent dreaming of romantic beach [...]

In France, the holiday on February 2 is called La Chandeleur (Candlemas, or feast of the candles), or Fête des lumières (festival of lights). Marking the midpoint of winter, between the shortest day of the year and the spring equinox, Candlemas offers protection and light, with its own weather sayings that would make a groundhog [...]