So it’s Spring

So it’s Spring.

Or so they say.

I like spring, primarily because it means that baseball is back and I don’t have to wear four layers of clothes to be comfortable outside and two layers of clothes to be comfortable inside. But I’m not one who gets excited when the calendar tells me it’s spring, so yesterday – even though it was a beautiful day with a high temperature of 50° (that’s 10° for those of you who might keep score in Celsius) I didn’t care that it was the first ‘official’ day of spring because it didn’t feel like spring to me.

When does it feel like spring to me? For me, since I’m willing to decry all that scientific stuff about the earth tilting this way and that way in relation to the sun, I wait to declare spring until after I’ve seen one sign.

Just one sign. The Sign.

No, it’s not the first sighting of a red-winged blackbird, or a robin, or the sound of frogs croaking in chorus. It’s not the return of Daylight saving time. It’s not folks riding motorcycles. It’s not the absence of frost on the ground, or ice out on the area lakes. It’s not buds on the lilac bushes, or the overnight appearance of dandelions or BBQ grills (forget that guy one block over who backs his car into his driveway and barbecues in his garage all winter long). It’s not the smell of thawing manure (“farm fresh air”) floating on the breeze.

For me the first sign of spring in Minnesota is when I see that first Ford F150 or Chevy Silverado headed north towing a boat. Looking at the weather forecast I’m guessing spring is just around the corner.