It’s been a long winter for my family here in northern Indiana. We had snow on the ground for nearly eight consecutive weeks and it seemed like we would never see a day where the mercury hit fifty degrees. It wasn't a particularly hard winter. My kids only missed a half day of school due to the weather, and that was due to a fog delay of all things. No major snow storms, just four or five inches here and there, a seemingly never ending reload whenever the earth threatened to melt the white stuff away.
Well, it finally happened two weeks ago. Several consecutive days of fifty degree weather finally allowed us to see grass in our yard. Even the black squirrels were happy. Instead of hanging out up in the trees or digging through last year’s flower boxes on our deck, the squirrels have been darting around the property checking for hidden stashes of walnuts. The birds seem happy as well. Cardinals and even a Red-Wing Blackbird have been making touch and go landings in the backyard, ever vigilant of the Cooper’s Hawk that has taken up residence in our cul-de-sac.
Both of my kids have abandoned their video games, computers and the television, instead spending their time outdoors playing with friends or sharpening their baseball and softball skills. They haven’t broken any windows yet (which seems to be a spring ritual), so we go about our chores in nervous anticipation of that first hard sound of shattered glass. Between playing family games of “horse” in the driveway and cleaning up the collateral damage of broken limbs in the yard, we have rediscovered the joy of being unburdened by coats and mittens.
Even our neighbors appear to be on a “spring high.” The dog walkers have an exaggerated bounce to their step and contented smiles on their faces. The kids are getting fewer after-school phone calls and more knocks on the door inviting them to jump on a neighbor’s trampoline, play hopscotch or shoot hoops. People are out working in their yards, pausing from their tasks when we drive by, and shouting greetings that I haven’t heard in six months.
I’m not quite ready to dust off my golf clubs or get the bikes down from the racks in the garage, but it won’t be long. Summer is a marvelous season, but spring is the time when we shake off our chilly exteriors and embrace civilization again.
Well, it finally happened two weeks ago. Several consecutive days of fifty degree weather finally allowed us to see grass in our yard. Even the black squirrels were happy. Instead of hanging out up in the trees or digging through last year’s flower boxes on our deck, the squirrels have been darting around the property checking for hidden stashes of walnuts. The birds seem happy as well. Cardinals and even a Red-Wing Blackbird have been making touch and go landings in the backyard, ever vigilant of the Cooper’s Hawk that has taken up residence in our cul-de-sac.
Both of my kids have abandoned their video games, computers and the television, instead spending their time outdoors playing with friends or sharpening their baseball and softball skills. They haven’t broken any windows yet (which seems to be a spring ritual), so we go about our chores in nervous anticipation of that first hard sound of shattered glass. Between playing family games of “horse” in the driveway and cleaning up the collateral damage of broken limbs in the yard, we have rediscovered the joy of being unburdened by coats and mittens.
Even our neighbors appear to be on a “spring high.” The dog walkers have an exaggerated bounce to their step and contented smiles on their faces. The kids are getting fewer after-school phone calls and more knocks on the door inviting them to jump on a neighbor’s trampoline, play hopscotch or shoot hoops. People are out working in their yards, pausing from their tasks when we drive by, and shouting greetings that I haven’t heard in six months.
I’m not quite ready to dust off my golf clubs or get the bikes down from the racks in the garage, but it won’t be long. Summer is a marvelous season, but spring is the time when we shake off our chilly exteriors and embrace civilization again.
2 comments:
Winter was pretty oppressive in the east, with snowmeggedon and all... So we too are loving spring. It's a great source of energy.
I'll bet you are enjoying the warmer temperatures! In January & February it seemed like the Weather Channel was reporting on a major snow event hitting the east coast every other week. Hope you have a great weekend!
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