ST. LOUIS — An annual report about how miserable St. Louis can be in February is getting some national attention. Reporter Kevin Killeen’s work for 1120 AM KMOX was picked up by FOX News. Their headline states, “St. Louis reporter’s hilarious and dreary take on month of February goes viral: ‘All the color is gone.’” The story has also been picked up by the New York Post and the Boston Globe.

In 2016, the radio station posted a video of Killeen standing on top of a vehicle garage, speaking about his intense feelings about the second month of the year.

“February is the worst month of the year, but it’s an honest month,” said Killeen. “It’s a month that doesn’t make life seem any better than it is. I mean, look around here. These buildings, they look like they don’t even have any lights in them during a workday, and something great happened here, but it’s over with, and that’s the February way.” 

As Killeen and the cameraman leave the garage roof and proceed below, Killeen notices an umbrella that has been discarded. The umbrella is green and has a floral motif on it.

“Just check out February, this umbrella says it all. This has a spring-like or floral pattern on it, but somebody on this February day abandoned it with its broken shaft like a desperate flinging off something that’s not true anymore,” said Killeen. “The expedition is getting desperate, and people are throwing things aside.” 

Killeen chose the dreariest day to film an anti-February video. He discusses how carbohydrates are popular this time of year and how everyone uses a lot of creams because everyone feels itchy and fatigued.

“Look around downtown on a February workday. This looks like a place where people are being punished or sent. If you notice, the way people cross the street in February it’s different than in the summer,” said Killeen. “Nobody is tapping, dancing or breaking into a Rogers Hammerstein song. It’s their lunch hour and they’re just barely able to get across the street and hunker over a bowl of chili.” 

Killeen continues by stating that even the soil is exhausted in February.

“Most of the birds who can afford it have gone to Florida and the trees that once cheered us, they’re hard to look at this month,” Killeen said. “It’s as if there is some awful truth out there in the trees. It’s hiding in the branches. Look at them. Something that’s been bothering you for a long time is out there What is it? You can almost see the shape of it when all the color is gone. When life is stripped down to the starkness of February.” 

Killeen stated that man-made holidays were designed to deal with February.

“To try to hide the bleakness of February, man invented Valentine’s Day and Mardi Gras, but then February answered back with another holiday Ash Wednesday,” said Killeen. “What other month could host a holiday that’s designed to remind us that we’re all going to die? That’s February for you. It is bleak. It is honest and it just tells you the way it really is.” 

Killeen concludes his video with this advice: “My father used to say that if you can make it through February, you’ll live another year.”