When is it really spring for you?
Posted at 5:00 AM on April 6, 2011
by Eric Ringham
(58 Comments)
Filed under: Culture, Environment/Energy
Spring officially arrived March 20, but for many Minnesotans it's been a long, cold winter. Today's Question: When is it really spring for you?
Comments (58)
The first inner stirrings between Imbolc/Groundhog's Day and Valentines ... slowly melting and trickling on thru March ... Equinox speeds it up as it is the Dawn of the Year, and April is all out, flowing with smells and wetness and warming freshness. May Day/Beltane is the first inkling of Summer with warmth and fecundity ... in June in the Northern Hemisphere it's the High Noon of the Year.
First paddle on the river.
It's not spring until I see the first shimmer of green on the grass, the trees and shrubs sprouting leaves, and the first flowers peeking through.
Spring in N MN is when the smoke from brush & forest fires replaces the dirty snow on the ground & flooding on the news.
When it rains and you smell that smell of earth that you haven't smelled for six months!
When it is light after 5 o'clock and hits 70 degrees sometime during the day, gin and tonic season has arrived. Ceremonial beverage mandatory
When I umpire my first high school game.
It is really spring for me when I feel I can go out without wearing long johns.
When I can have a window open at night.
When days (24 hr) where my furnace comes on are less common than days where it doesn't.
When a thunderstorm brings a heavy rain. The musty dusty smell and look is gone, replaced by clean and green!!!!
When I can hang laundry on the line in the morning without the clothes instantly freeze-drying.
When I can open doors and windows in the house.
When I can snip fresh herbs from my garden and do not have to buy them again for 7 months ... Sunday the chives were peeking through the mulch :-)
you know its spring when all the saps are running like me in shorts!
When I do not need to wear socks to bed (last night).
When I can go barefoot outside with minimal discomfort
When the redwing blackbirds trill from the cattails
When the kids ask if they can ride bike
When I hear Van Halen 1984
When the yard looks like hell and I forgive it
When birds start singing in the morning
When hot tea doesn't taste as good in the morning
I agree with Chris! I love reading about signs of spring other people are seeing throughout the state on the Minnesota Phenology Network. So, besides hearing the birds sing and the snow melt, I know it's spring when I start seeing the flurry of discussion on their Facebook page, with everyone sharing their "spring" observations from all over Minnesota.Very cool!
When Target puts Easter stuff on clearance... so... Mid March??
It's spring when I can comfortably leave the house wearing fiip flops and a cardigan...when I can leave the front door open to the porch and the cat can happily be out there in a sun spot...today feels like the first day of spring to me!
When the street sweepers come and I can ride my road bike!
When my neighbor removes the cardboard from the front grill of his truck.
When I hear my first spring peepers and see my first crocus. Both happened on Sunday!
I would say when new phenological events take place such as buds breaking and oven birds appearing.
The University of Minnesota has put together a great Facebook page called the "Minnesota Phenology Network". I would highly recommend "liking" it because people from all over the state write in about what they are seeing as spring comes. What is really cool is that there are experts and non-experts that regularly communicate about their findings on that page.
I think the U is also putting together a website where people can share data too. I love spring!
When the sun warms the inside of a parked car, it is SPRING to me!
In my opinion, this occurred on T 3/29 in the Twin Cities area.
The sound of peepers as you drive past open water; buckets hanging on maple trees and the sap-fire burning; but perhaps most indicative: pulling the first tick of the season off the dog! YIKES!!
It has to be the Twins home opener for me.
I wish we could still hear Herb Carneal's voice on the radio. Riding in the car listening to his voice always made me feel like Spring was finally here!
when the ticks are out. followed by the sandhill cranes and then the hummers.
When all my friends with Seasonal Affective Disorder start to cheer up.
Opening day in Major League Baseball. The first robin sighting. The late night sound of June bugs rustling in the dried grass and leaves from last year.
Love it!
When the trees start budding.
Its a combination of sensations: an organic freshness in the air, the increase in bird sounds, the angle of sunlight, etc.
When I see/hear the first Robin. My mother and I have a contest each year to see who will be the first to spot one.
The days lengthen slightly, the bird song changes and the sap runs. We start tapping our maple trees and hear that steady drip in the bucket and it is SPRING! Sweet! It can be as early as mid February with a foot of snow but for us it's spring.
When I daughter asks to take the bike to school in the morning, that is the sure sign that Spring has arrived.
When I can put my top down!
When I put the patio furniture back outside.
When I can shoot my guns without gloves.
∑
DTOM
When the snow on the side of the road has melted.
When I have finished the winter yard cleanup.
When the garder snakes emerge from their underground winter dens.
When I take the cover off my motorcycle and go for that first ride.
I know it's spring when I step outside and can smell moist dirt. It's a distinctive, once-a-year fragrance. At that point I know any more snow that falls will melt quickly.
I'm originally from Toronto, and any Toronto hockey fan knows it's officially Spring when the Leafs are out. As this is pretty well guaranteed to happen every year, it's a really good indication.
I know spring is here when I start obsessing about morels.
It isn't spring until the street sweepers come by and cleanup the leftovers of winter.
In Eagan, spring arrives with wood ducks and slivers of open water on the shore line.
When I can put the winter coat away for good!
Seeing my tulips and other perennials peek through the leaves, and then the clearing off of all my garden beds. (which i started yesterday!) spring has sprung!
Of all the songs and poems written about springtime, my 9-year old granddaughter, the beautiful and talented Olivia Corcoran said it best. About the last large snowfall, whenever that was, she said: "Minnesota is like my big toe:. Every year when I start going barefoot, I stub my big toes and they are all sore and bloody and scabby, and just when they're getting better I go and do it again...",
A true Minnesota spring is normally a one-day affair, Maybe a week, tops. Be vigilant, be alert, be ready to ENJOY...
I love all Minnesota seasons. I have really loved having a good ole Minnesota Winter.!
It is spring for me when I can go outside without a coat!
The snow has to be TOTALLY gone, the grass has to be thinking about turning green, and the daffodils need to be ready to bloom.
The opening of the baseball season is the start of my spring. April can still have some wintery surprises, but I know that spring, and eventually summer, are just around the corner when the first pitch is thrown.
It is Spring for me on March 1 and when, from my kitchen, I can hear birds at my feeders that aren't just crows, squirrels and the ones that winter over in Minnesota! So, Spring has sprung!
When I see the kids in the neighborhood playing baseball. Once I hear the first cluck on my wall after an errant throw, I know that spring has arrived.
When I can sink my shovel into the ground without hitting frozen soil.
When I hang the clothes outside to dry (yesterday).
When I am lulled to sleep at night by the sounds of frogs croaking. And then woken in the morning to the sounds of songbirds and of ducks and geese preparing to mate on our marsh.
When I see a great blue heron flying overhead in south Minneapolis (in addition to the many airplanes) -- I always count that as "official" Spring.
When the lakes are fully defrosted.
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