I don't like Springtime

I really don't want to sound negative when I say I don't like Spring. Especially when those around me are acting like giddy school-children on these rare sunny, pleasant days we've been having around here lately. Me? I'm just being a realist. Or maybe I should say a cautious optimist. I've lived in this part of the country my whole life, and like Lucy pulling the ball away from Charlie Brown, I'm just not going to fall for it so soon.

According to Wikipedia Spring is defined as "transition period between winter and summer". Although the calender says the Spring equinox occurs on March 20st, I thought spring began on March 21 st, so I began to kick around online to find out which day was scientifically correct. I found a cool article on www.space.com that said that while it's true that we've traditionally celebrated the beginning of spring on March 21, astronomers and calendar manufacturers alike now say that the spring season starts one day earlier, March 20, in all time zones in North America. As these wacky scientists point out, the vernal equinox landed on March 21, only 36 out of 100 years. And from 1981 to 2102, Americans will celebrate the first day of spring no later than March 20. So, I guess we'll worry about the date again after 2102.

So...regardless of the exact day, this is the weekend so many who have suffered through one of the coldest, snowiest and grayest winters I can recall have been waiting for.

But not me. I'm not falling for it. You can't fool me.

My feelings about Spring can be summed up in one word: impatience.

I mean come on, haven't we suffered long enough? March first comes along and we get a glimpse of what is to come--but probably not for another 60 days, at least. We get a a thaw...the sun comes out for one, maybe two days in a row and in desperation people start pulling out their shorts and sandals. You see tops down on convertibles (even though the heat is on full blast) and guys heading to the golf course. I want to say- "warning warning Will Robinson...don't get your hopes up! Don't switch the wardrobe and put the sweaters away! Don't fall for it! It's not over yet!"

Because inevitably, after 3 days of paradise, 3 days of thinking maybe the worst is over, the weather forecast calls for snow, or plummeting temperatures. Your plants have to be covered, you are back to scraping ice off the car window.

Spring is a big fat tease.

It gives you a taste of what you've been dying for, only to pull it away from you when it is just within your reach. March 20th comes and goes...daytime temperatures lag behind by several weeks, because the earth and sea (or in our case, the lake) take time to warm up. And then April's showers come and my backyard with my two loping, frolicking dogs turn it into a mud-pit. Spring for a dog owner means yard clean up and lots of paw wiping. It is the season of mud.

So for those of you who love spring, and think its the most wonderful time of the year...you can have it! I will enjoy the days we are lucky to get with a vengeance. I will soak in the sun for my much needed vitamin D production, and I will wait through this one for my other favorite seasons, which are...in order Summer, Fall and Winter...followed by Spring.

Little Darlin', it HAS been a long cold lonely winter. And I can't wait for the return of consistently pleasant days. And when they arrive, I will be one happy girl! But in the meantime, I will prepare for the cold, hope for the warm, and not be frustratd or surprised or angry by much that happens in between.

Happy Spring! :-)