I’m looking out at a combination of sleet, rain, and snow. The ground is covered in white, and the temperatures rose above freezing exactly once in the past two weeks. I’ve often thought that much of enduring rough patches in life is a matter of having something to look forward to, and somebody to look forward to it with. Time to channel some Sound of Music and list some favorite things I’m looking forward to about Spring:
1) Hearing peepers (which figure in Kiss Me Hello, by the way)
2) Seeing crocuses
3) The silence in the house after the heat stops running and before the AC starts
4) Robins and other song birds
5) Longer daylight
6) Going through the day without two pair of organic wool socks on my feet
7) The sun on my closed eyelids
8) Sleeping with the windows open
9) Taking walks somewhere other than the tread desk
10) Waking up with the sun.
Your turn! To one commenter, I’ll send a spring bouquet.
I have no crocus but I do have some daffodils in my back yard. They have been there for more years than I’ve had this house (38). And bless their little hearts, they start popping through the frozen earth and snow in February. They give me hope!
I too look forward to opening the windows and airing out the house. But most of all I look forward to sitting on my porch with a cup of coffee or tea and watching the birds, squirrels, and bunnies doing their thing.
I love that cup of tea on the porch too, and it’s not far off. The angle of the sunlight, the hour when the sun some over the ridge… they tell me spring will arrive soon.
The snow is coming down (again) this morning in Chicagoland. Not trying to out do you, but 2015 has tied (with 1877)here for the coldest February since they’ve been keeping records! Below zero and I don’t know when it’s been about 10 degrees…though they say it’s supposed to be 39 on Tuesday…..we’ll see.
I’m looking forward to:
1. Seeing the ground and not snow outside.
2. Not having to wear boots and my snow clogs every time I go out.
3. Not hearing a plow come down my street as the deciding factor for me to run errands.
4. Getting my car washed and knowing it will stay relatively clean of salt.
5. Watching Mama and Papa Duck making their yearly home (for a couple weeks in late March)in my back yard. They walk back and forth at least once a day and have for 21 years, since we bought this house.
6. Being able to NOT wear a sweater every day.
7. Eating lighter food…not summer light…but more spring and vegetables that don’t cost and arm and a leg.
8. Seeing the first Robin…the Cardinals have been here all winter and so have some finches…but I miss my Robins!
9. Wearing a light jacket instead of a heavy coat with scarves and hats and double gloves.
10. More sunlight with meaning (we’ve had very sunny days when it’s not snowing but when it’s 15 degrees out and sunny, it’s not the same thing!)
Whoops, February 2015 ties with February 1875 being the coldest since records being kept. Gotta get my facts right!
Chicago and Boston win the Winter Blues sweepstakes this year, while the Northwest does without a snow pack. Odd times… Your list could probably go viral, but I love the ducks most.
Ok, Here is my list:
1.I can’t wait or warmer weather so I can bend my legs without pain.
2.I can go to the bookstore in the daylight and spend awhile picking out just the right book and enjoy a passion tea lemonade and when I leave the store it is still daylight.
3.I can go outside and see colorful lowers all around me.
4. I can play fetch with the dogs.
The dogs… oh, my dogs are probably longing for the day when they can nap on the back porch while I write all morning. I am too, because they’ve already started to shed!
I have tulips and a few other flowering beauties in my front garden. I love spring planting and can’t wait to do more! I have to admit that most of our Houston winter weather is mild. Today it’s 57 degrees, cloudy and drizzly. (Summer, my dears, is another story entirely!)
My parents in San Diego see all kinds of long lost relatives and neighbors in January and February. I suspect in Houston it’s the same thing. Fair weather relatives…
better weather
the flowers
I think we’re ALL looking forward to the flowers!
In Central Florida, the warmer weather has already started, so I got to enjoy a nice walk today in the sunshine. I look forward to seeing all of the flowers blooming and the bit of warm but not sweltering weather we get before summer kicks in. I’d much rather have the heat than the cold, and how everyone deals with all that snow is beyond me, so the number one thing I’m grateful for is living in a warm climate.
I do not like a warm climate, so I’m glad folks like you abound. I am, however, VERY glad my nonagenarian parents can live in a warm climate. They’re safer, they’re happier, they’re more connected to the greater world simply because they never have to fight winter. THAT is a blessing.
Best things about spring (we agree on many of these):
1. Longer days!!
2. Open windows and fresh air.
3. NO SOCKS!
4. Everything is green. 🙂
5. Don’t have to warm the car up before driving someplace
6. Return of humidity.
Simple joys.
I’m sitting here listening to the snow dripping off the roof and the bird singing instead of the heaters roaring in three rooms. This is my idea of bliss.
You’ve been on my mind this week. I’m glad a reprieve came your way!
It’s snowing again as I type my answer to you! It’s icy and the roads are a mess. There is good news as it should hit 50′ on Friday! Hoping to see my fence soon!
Spring Forward!
Looking forward to seeing my daffodils again.
Listening to the birds sing in the morning when I have my coffee.
Walking the dogs in the neighborhood in my sneakers!
Feeling the sand between my toes.
Hearing the lawn mower.
Putting my Bean boots,wool socks, mittens and coat in the closet!
Yes! The lawn mowers! One of my neighbors is yard proud, and he’s Out There whacking and mowing before the onions go in. This year, he’ll be music to my winterized ears.
First and foremost – not having to worry about my outside ferals/strays. This has been a bitterly cold winter.
I want to feel the sun again.
I want to smell spring.
I want to see green!
I want to wear less clothes lol.
I worried too, but they’ve all come through just fine. I suspect they simply made friends with the skunks and possums who homestead under my porch. Survival makes strange porch-fellows.
Hmm… Let’s see red bud, dogwood, pear trees, red tullips, yellow tullips, daffodils, forsethia, Easter, little girls in their Easter outfits, jelly beans
Maryland is where I learned to really, really, REALLY appreciate the flowering trees. They’re magnificent here, and should start up in just a few weeks. Can’t wait!
Definitely sleeping with the windows open, the wonderful smell of spring air, the grass when it’s green and lush – before the summer heat dries it out, and hyacinths.
The Easter flower sales, right? Our local community college has a flower and garden show in March that gets everybody motivated to dig and plant. Then some of the grocery stores start on the onions, the hanging baskets… Might be a good think I’m traveling later this month.
1) throwing open all the windows and letting the breeze rip through my house. Seriously, my house sits at the magical angle that catches the wind off the field like a wind tunnel.
2) wearing sandals. I’ll jump the gun and have cold feet a few times but I won’t wear real shoes all summer and fall rolls around and I wonder if my feet have gotten bigger as I cram them in real shoes.
3) the heat. I love when it gets warm enough I can open the bay doors at the gym, turn on that massive floor fan, and watch the town go by. It’s not nearly as fun when my toes are cold.
My house is Pre-Civil War, and I think back then, they built to catch the prevailing breeze, to grab the winter sun, and hide from the summer afternoon rays. I have sleeping porches too, which is an idea I’d like to bring back…. All I’d need is a hammock, right?
I love spring, it’s my favorite time of year. I am looking forward to the warmer temps, that’s top of the list. I can’t wait to start seeing flowers and green grass again. My son can’t wait to get out and start riding his bike, playing on his swing, and playing in the sandbox.
I grew up with a big back yard, woods adjacent, then a huge park on the other side of the woods. To get back to the woods, to see what trees had fallen, how high the water was, where the wild flowers were blooming was one of the best parts of growing up. Then there was the year my dad found morels in the fence row…
I like the smells in the air as seasons change. I like the smell of mud in spring. I like the sound of water trickling as snow melts. I just adore the way the air moves differently as the weather changes. Spring seems even more dear after such a hard winter and I’m looking forward with my little face pressed to the frosty window.
I have always liked the smell of manure, and I suspect it’s because of something you mention–that’s a spring smell. When the farmers are cleaning out the loafing sheds, and tossing the goods on the cold, hard, ground, that’s a signal that in a few weeks, the ploughs will be out. Lovely connection!
I love to see the Spring bulbs pop up, and pop they do about 20 mi North of me in Mt. Vernon, WA. Bulb farms and is it beautiful. We have had a record mild Winter and those bulbs are blooming now. Not waiting for the Tulip festival next mo.
Yes, you had the best winter… though you didn’t get enough snow! Maybe next year, the table will tilt, and we’ll be seeing early bulbs in the Northwest. If I’m ever out your way (again, my daughter lived in Seattle for a time), I want to hit the lavender festivals on the UP. Oh, the fragrance…
I saw daffodils Yesterday!!!! Yeah!!
I am pretty sure it’s just around the corner…Sleet yesterday and 60’s forcast for the weekend with sun… Come on GA Spring…I have a couple, Mr and Mrs Cardinal that I watch every day! Those are the
indications that I have been looking forward to and to a visit with my Son in May where he lives in Minnnesota that will be just warming up 🙂
There’s something so benevolent about the scent of daffodils, even more than the sight of them. I love ’em, because they’re the March flower, and they’re so hardly and brave. Mine are still under half a foot of snow, but I know they’re making plans…
In Marietta, GA it was 78 degrees 2 days ago. There was a warm breeze on my face.
WOW!! It is now back in the 30s, but that was great!
A taste of Montana. My brother lives with that sort of fickle weather all the time, but it can go from zero to seventy. I can’t imagine raising kids in that weather, but they make it look fun. (Might have to visit them… this SUMMER.)
I am so ready for spring. When we moved back north I was pleased to get back to an area with seasons. In the south we only had two days of spring and maybe a week of fall. But this 5 months of hard winter has been tough and this snow !!
first and foremost i will be glad to not have to shovel out the car every time i want to go somewhere!
but i do love my spring flowers, the snowdrops have been out now for several weeks. Even before that last huge snow they were open and showing themselves. I did notice some daffydills today that were not only up thru the snow but showing bud already!
I love my peonies and other early summer flowers. And my garden vegies, even the excess of zuchinni.
I am looking forward to taking the plastic off the windows and opening them for the day but around here – it almost never gets warm enough to sleep with the windows open.
i do hope spring gets a move on but i am afraid there will be one more snow – there usually is !
I don’t mind those onion snows, though. Do you? When you know winter is on the run, and the snow won’t be around for very long, those are easy to bear. It’s the January snows, that come one after another after another followed those dang Alberta Clippers (who invited those guys, anyway?). Winter is hard, but I wonder if Mary Balogh, who lives in Western Canada, would have written as many wonderful stories without winter to keep her parked at her computer for long stretches.
fulfilling a longhead dream whose roots are in romance: pointing the bow north toward new beginnings in Maine.
Have never been Down East. This is your only warning!