Spring

You would never know by the landscape around here, but spring is coming.  It’s still snowing, but spring is definitely around the corner.  I can’t be the only person in this town who is tired of snow, the smallest sign and we’re praying it means spring is here.

I grew up in a little town on Lake Superior.  Ashland had the longest winters.  Snow starts in October and ends in April.  My Mom said it snowed in June when she was a little kid.  I believe her. 

When I was in college, I brought my roommate home for Thanksgiving.  She was from Harlingen, Texas and when she saw the amount of snow and that big frozen lake,  it scared her half to death.  I’m grateful she didn’t quit school on the spot.

When I was a little girl, in grade school, Clare and I would walk home together every day even in the winter.  There were the necessary stops to climb snow banks and look at stuff buried in the snow.  But generally we moved quickly to get home.  Ashland had long, cold, dark, brutal winters.  I’m glad I didn’t know any better, I would have run away from home if I had known that winter isn’t like that everywhere.

Every year March came in like a lion.  And on Lake Superior, it went out like one too.  March’s bright sunny days didn’t  fool me or any one else.  It looked warm, but it was cold.  Bitter winds, icy winter days always welcomed in the first day of spring.  But in March, we always took note of the first sign that spring was coming, no matter how small or insignificant it seemed.

Every year, when the sun shines a little brighter in March, it also changes direction just a little.  When I got home from school, I noticed that the sun was coming straight in the living room windows, no longer at an angle, it was warm and inviting and our cat had found the sun’s warmth and fallen asleep.  More often than not, I would lay down right next to the cat and in the warm sunshine, I fell asleep too.

I remember loving the feeling of the sun shining through the window and warming my cold feet and hands.  I always thought my feet got cold in October and didn’t warm up again until June.  But laying there on the carpet, on a sunny March day, I was warm and that good dose of sunshine also had the added benefit of lifting my spirits.

I’m sure that as a child I was unaware of how depressing winter can be.  I thought everyone felt the same way, it’s cold, we deal with it and just wait until spring.  Nothing to really complain about, it’s not like you can change the weather.

But then I moved from Lake Superior to go to college in Madison.  Madison is about 300 miles south of Ashland and who would have thought that the weather would be so different.

I’ve written about coming to Madison with my roommate Cheryl on a Greyhound.  We were both dressed as we would have for an August day in Ashland.  Long pants, sweaters and jackets.  When we arrived in Madison, it was over 90 degrees and it was the end of August!!!  In Ashland, you have to wear a warm jacket at night at the end of August or you would freeze. 

We hadn’t brought any of our warm weather clothes, so our first call home was to say we were ok, give our parents our phone number and beg them to mail all of our shorts, t-shirts, sandals, etc.  We were sweating to death and apparently this was normal for this part of the state.

You can imagine our surprise.  We were in the same state, but down in Madison, we had warm weather that lasted into October!!  We would be in snow in Ashland.  And spring really did come in March.  Sure we would still have snow and sleet, but there were days when you could just wear a sweatshirt and no boots to go outside.  I was in complete denial that this could be normal weather for any part of Wisconsin, but there it was and I was in it.

Now here I am 30 years later and I’m wondering if I’ve worn out my welcome in this part of the state.  This year we had record breaking snow in the Madison area.  We’ve had over 90 inches of snow.  The snow in my yard is up to my hips.  I’m not talking snow banks, that’s how deep the snow is in my yard.  And it’s cold.

We’ve had the furnace on for months and it doesn’t look like there is any end in sight.  I read somewhere that this was the most snow in Madison since 1978.  1978 is the year I moved down here from Ashland.  Maybe it’s time to make another move, I’m thinking Key West this time.  If we get a record breaking snow down there, you will know who to blame.

In the meantime, until my husband retires and we can really get out of here in the winter, I’ll just have to pretend.

Tune in the Buffett, start up the blender, it’s margarita time.

Thanks for listening,

Anne

Comments

[Chronic Pain Hero]

hello, it's glad to see other people who are suffering with chronic pain but haven't given into it. Days like I had this weekend make me think back to when I was a kid too, trying hard to understand and believe how I am today. Those were some good days when I could choose to do just about anything I wanted, like laying on the floor by window and soaking up the sun. If I lay on the floor now, that's probably where I'd be for the next few years. ha ha ha. Getting up isn't what it used to be. Takes a WHOLE lot of help and pain. Man, I do miss laying in the sunshine.