Spring is here!

Today and yesterday were the most beautiful days. I normally am irritated by spring--the mud, the rain, and the unpredictability of the weather (There's frost at night while rain falls all day, dammit!) are a combination that just annoys me to no end. This spring has been pretty much the same. In fact, the scraper was removed from the car in the recent past, so when I found frost on the windows at 4:30 on Wednesday morning, I had to use a cassette tape, the New Testament no less, to scrape the windows. I felt cranky almost the whole day after that frosty surprise.

Anyway, this spring is really no different, and in many ways, it's been worse than springs previous to this one. For one, we've had a ton of rain, so much so that it seems flood warnings are an ever-present crawl across the news homepage I read. Thankfully we don't live in a flood plain, so our home is not threatened, but that much rain really dampens the happy spring spirit. We can't get outside and mess with the landscaping, as you know I am apt to do, and we can't play on the swingset, ride scooters on the sidewalks, or draw with chalk in the driveways (shiver).

So why, you ask, am I thrilled about spring in spite of the rain, the mud, and all the other stuff I've complained about here? Well, I care less about all those things. What I *do* care about is that winter is over, and this winter in particular seemed to last forever. We didn't have a lot of snow, we didn't even have that much rain and sleet, but the gray days really did drag on. Normally winter is wonderful, and I love nearly everything that comes with it. But this year the sun wasn't out very much, and I've been longing for window weather since January. Maybe it's because I'm running this year and wanting to get outside? Who knows.

We don't see the neighbors as much in the winter either, since most of them seem pretty darn annoyed by the snow and cold. We usually spend a lot of time outside, whether it's warm or cold--well, all of us except the little girl. She hates cold and she hates hot. She also hates windy and rainy. The child is very finicky, really. It's a problem because the boy will go outside to play in almost ANY weather, and I tend to want to be outside too. We learned last winter that riding his bike down our steep driveway in the snow can bring some scary results (SO glad he wore his helmet). During these times outside, we do see the neighbors driving their cars into the garages, and we wave as the doors shut behind them. They don't seem to like being outside like we do and tend to grumble when shoveling or snow-blowing is needed, but when spring allows for driveway-sitting and chatting, the neighbors are great. They sometimes even bring their own chairs. ;)

Tomorrow and Tuesday are supposed to be great as well, and though we can't be outside the whole time, I've got a striped chair with my name on it, and I can't wait to feel the warm sun on my face, hear the click-click of the scooter on the sidewalk cracks, and smell the damp-dirt smell of spring. I may even look forward to the first mow of the season. :)