Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Signs of the Season

It's only the first week of March, and it's been a rather mild winter (especially by my strict midwestern standards), but I can already sense the change.

It was a ridiculously mild winter, and already, I'm sick of it. My (unscientific—and unserious) theory is that we all have a certain amount of winter tolerance built into us and that I used up my quota in the harsh winters of Minnesota and Wisconsin back in the pre-warm-globe environment. I'm not ready to move to Florida or Arizona, but I have come, in a strange way, to appreciate the mild winters around here that display as much brown grass as white snow. Two advantages: I can see vegetation (even if dormant), and I don't have to shovel grass.

Winter-lovers or -haters, we are all, I suspect, ready for spring, if only because we welcome and find reassurance in the cycle of change. This weekend, the first signs made themselves known: the daylilies, daffodils, and snowdrops.



1 comment:

Kathy Thiel said...

I agree about the tolerance for harsh winter weather running out. When I moved to New England and heard people complain about the winters I wondered why they didn't move to Arizona or Florida. Now that I complain about the winter weather I understand - my life is here, not in the southern, warmer states (or countries). I, too, enjoyed the mild weather this winter and I think I only had to shovel four times. An added bonus, of course, is that the heating bills are lower.