We used to be able to identify the arrival of Spring easily – the first red, red robin came bob bob bobbing along and we took note and retired our winter clothes for a few months.
Nowadays, things have been complicated by climate change. It seems like we have a lot of much warmer days in the Winter, and then it gets much colder and the clouds drop snow and sleet and ice onto our misery.
To help alleviate the confusion, I present to you a more up-to-date list of ways to know it’s finally Spring:
- The groundhog saw his shadow and it has been at least eight weeks.
- The drive to work becomes less of an obstacle course because they’ve started filling in the potholes that formed during the Winter.
- Your dog is finally willing to go outside to poop and pee again.
- The clueless local television station stops advertising its amazing on time announcements of school closings and delays that always showed up about two hours after you got a text message from the school.
- The local grocery store takes down the Easter display they put up February 15th and starts trying to sell you bathing suits you won’t be able to use for a few more months.
- The ground has thawed enough that the birds can finally have worms for breakfast. They probably still prefer that you fill the birdhouse with food.
- The squirrels show up again (and start eating the food you left in the birdhouse).
- The kids don’t spend ten minutes searching around the house for their hats and gloves and are less likely to stall going outside to wait for the bus.
- You don’t have to scrape ice or snow or frozen fog off your car’s windshield each morning.
- The groundhog didn’t see his shadow and it has been at least eight weeks. That rodent isn’t any better at this than we are.
Just in case you still lean toward watching for the arrival of the birds, Doris Day hit the charts briefly in 1953 with her ode to the red, red robin.
What Was Left In 