I saw some weird stuff outside today.
Can you see it? Look carefully.
No, it’s not the snow at the upper edge. What’s weird about that? It’s been here for-goddamned-freaking-ever for months. I’m talking the brown stuff. That’s called earth. It’s in my garden. It’s been under the snow. Now I can see it. I’d almost forgotten what it looked like.
These days, when I take my walks, I see this earth stuff everywhere. Sometimes, it’s mostly surrounded by snow, and sometimes, I just see whole swaths of it. It’s bizarre.
And then, I saw some even weirder stuff.
No, I’m not referring to the yucky wet leaves and decayed vegetation. I’m talking the light green thingies. Coming up out of the earth. Green growing things. New life. I saw some today, right outside my door.
It seems impossible. I keep running outside to check and make sure I’m not dreaming.
And then, oh my God, there’s this other weird thing happening.
It’s called sunlight. I know, because I was so confused by its appearance that I googled it, just to remind myself what in God’s name I was looking at.
You know what all this weirdness means, right?
Yup. Winter is OVER!
Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know. It’s not March 21st yet, and it can snow here all the way till May 1st, but as long as I can see brown stuff appearing, and green growing thingies coming up, and sun shining without casting long shadows by one in the afternoon, I know that winter is on the run.
I don’t mind winter, in the beginning. It’s always kind of fun to see the snow. And to bring in the wood and kindling. And to light the wood stove every morning. And to get out the warm winter clothes.
And then it gets to be around mid-January, and I am so done. Oh, God in heaven, I am so done. The cold. The darkness. The wind. The ice. The piles and piles of snow getting sooty from car exhaust.
Last year wasn’t so bad. This year, by January 15, I started seriously pining for the Bay Area.
My daughter, wise young person that she is, has determined that she will only go to college in a warm climate. And I, wise old woman that I am, find myself giving serious consideration to making an extended visit to see my daughter between January 15 and March 15 of next year. I figure, I can go to wherever she is, catch a glimpse of her occasionally, and then spend the other 99% of my time defrosting.
Sounds like a plan to me.
© 2011 by Rachel Cohen-Rottenberg
LOL!!! Yeah..uh..you do realize you live in VERMONT, right?
Winter’s really effing long up there. We’ve already got blossoms!!!!
I live in VERMONT? Holy crap. Whose idea was this?
if i’d know you were going to get as excited as me, i would have taken some pictures yesterday!
it got up to 15 above (59 F) here in toronto yesterday, and all our snow is pfft.
i’m a west-coaster originally, and this winter has been one of the more brutal for me, and my fifth in ontario. le sigh.
we have irises poking out, and the grass, now uncovered, is going green faster than i would have thought possible. gleep! so happy, uncontainable!
oh yeah, and ditto the snow into late april, yadda yadda. i don’t care right now, just happy about being able to open my windows.
I hear you, Ben. I love being able to open my door and not have to slam it shut right away to keep out the cold!
And Bob saw crocuses coming up out back this morning. Crocuses! If it snows again, I’m just going to laugh and say, “You may look all big and bad, but your days are numbered. Bwahahahaha!”
i’ve been threatening the snow with hot water if it doesn’t get its ass gone…
I had exactly the same thought. Plus, I told Bob that if he had a spare moment, I wouldn’t look askance on his shoveling the snow out of the garden.
I have absolutely no clue what having snow is like. If we get a snow storm it lasts as long as the sun is down. You can come visit me in GA I would love to see you. Today is supposed to be 80 degrees.
I’d love to visit you guys! If my daughter goes to school in North Carolina, I’ll only be two states away when I go visit her.
Yesterday it got up to 63 F, and they said the last time it was that was on 23rd of November. It was so nice to be able to go out and not be cold.
I know! I walked to my doctor’s appointment and back yesterday, in the warmth and sunlight, and I felt alive again. It’s 65 degrees out now and the snow is melting like crazy. Yay!
When I see the sun it makes me want to curl up like a cat. =)
I know. And then I want to skip and jump like someone who’s been snowed in all winter.
Today wasn’t quite as warm, maybe 55, but the sun was shining so I went for a long walk downtown. I started out briskly, but my gait changed as I went along. Managed to walk a bit over 2 miles, (I checked it with my car right afterwards), which is great considering that before they put the stents in for my legs two years ago, I could only walk 100 yards before feeling intense pain, tiredness, and getting all out of breath. The walking took all of my energy for today, but I really wanted to know how far I could go. Going to try to improve it over the summer.
That’s awesome, Clay. I love walking, and I get out there for a long walk every day, even in bad weather. It’s one of my most important stress-reduction, health-maintenance activities. I hope you keep going with it regularly. It’s gentle and effective exercise.
It burns! It burnses our eyes!
I have no idea what ‘it’ is, but this big shiny hurty ball has appeared in the skies of Ohio for a couple of hours at a time over the course of a whole week, and I’m flummoxed. All I know is it hurts to look at it, so I think it’s unnatural. Maybe a nuclear test or something?
I’m thinking UFO.
Love this post! Yesterday on the way to the car, my son was flapping his hands around. That is not something he usually does, so I asked him about it, and he said his teacher had told them to look for signs of spring with all their senses.
So he was feeling the warmer air, hearing the birds singing and seeing more green grass. He shared his observations with his teacher when he got to school and said she was very happy with them.
With his birthday being in March, I always seem to see these signs of his own growth at the same time I am see the renewed life of spring and it always fills me with joy!
How wonderful that your little guy was taking in all the sights and sounds of spring! It’s such an enlivening time.
you nailed my sentiments about winter. i share your excitement about growing green thingies! spotted some crocuses at the side of a neighbour’s house on my way back from Friday prayers yesterday and got a bit excited. My crocuses aren’t anywhere near blooming yet, I finally figured it’s because mine are on the less-sunny side of the house… but I have been able to open windows too, and feel ridiculousy happy about doing so. my kids think I’m nuts!
Yay, crocuses! My daughter is equally excited about the coming of spring. She absolutely hates winter–which is odd, because before she became a teenager, she could tolerate a good deal of cold. We used to joke that her ancestors had lived on glaciers! But now, she and I both have difficulty with the cold, and we celebrate being able to open windows and walk outside without being all hunched up against the wind.
I am so with you on being done with winter. My kids have been out playing tennis two days in a row now. I actually did a twirl outside yesterday in the sunshine. I don’t generally do that sort of thing, but I’ve decided I’m old enough that it’s time I start.
And today I went for a ride on my bike. Truth be told, my ears got really cold, because it’s still a bit nippy where I am. But the sky was blue, and the road was clear, and next time I can remember to wear a hat, so what does it matter?
Yes, we really must start doing these fun things in our advanced age. If not now, when?
Rachel,
I know how much that garden means to you, so I am so happy you are seeing ground and green sprouts. I really do miss noticable changes in the seasons. We get cooler nights in the winter and more rain.
I’ll be the dissenting voice here. Where I live in Canada we have only what seems to be about three weeks between the end of snow and the beginning of mosquito season. And I hate mosquitoes. Their bite causes welts about the size of a quarter on me. Spring means I begin counting the days until the first hard mosquito-killing frost in the fall.
I live in the woods which is also where the mosquitoes live so I can’t even sit on my deck. I become housebound except for a daily walk down the road in the heat at noon, while the little bloodsuckers hide in the shade. And you know they say that only mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the sun at noon. Since I am of Scottish ancestry, I guess that makes me a mad dog! With my umbrella high over my head for portable shade, I am sure most passing motorists must think I’m completely mad.
Besides, in the winter we can always pile on more and more clothes, but there are limits as to how much we can take off in the heat of summer, no? At least on my road there are. And I’m not stripping down in my woods – I’m quite particular as to where I’ll let the little buggers bite.
Anyway, now that I’ve got that off my chest, I will wish you and garden lovers everywhere a very happy spring!
Love the pictures – love the sentiment! Spring is definitely here now! Just got finished with monsoonal rain for two and a half weeks here in California and now I hear lawn mowers and don my sunglasses!! My husband calls me a reptiles that likes to bask on a hot rock. That’s about accurate! Happy Spring, Rachel!
Thanks, Karen!