The Change in the Air

We’re getting our first tastes of spring… and it tastes really good. Since the beginning of February, the strangle hold of winter has diminished. Precipitation has been sparse. Temperatures have gotten warmer.

A few days ago, moments after stepping out of the shower and while still in a towel, Helaine called me to the front door. She beckoned me outside to experience a mild day. It was great. And, she didn’t even lock the door behind me.

This morning, on the front steps, I looked down to see the first plants of the new season poking through the still frigid ground. Most of the snow on our lawn is gone, though not all. Within the next few weeks the leaves should start budding on the trees.

Meanwhile, down in Florida, they played baseball today. I heard a partial Mets score on WCBS while taking my shower.

The biggest difference in our local environment is in the sunshine. There are more hours to enjoy it – significantly more. The Sun itself shines from a higher angle in the sky, cutting through less of the atmosphere, producing a somewhat different color than winter’s illumination.

When Ivy was alive, she’d look forward to this time of year and the corresponding solar position in the fall. As the day went on, she’d chase the sunshine, which warmed patches of carpet and marble. During the summer the sun was too high and didn’t come in through the windows. During the winter, when the Sun was significantly lower, it was blocked and of no use to her.

I looked at my car this afternoon and wanted to take it to the car wash. That’s a warm weather reaction.

I thought of taking down the top and riding in the fresh air. When I first got a convertible, I did that in December. The ‘actual’ temperature got the better of me today, so it stayed down. But with the heat blasting, and seat warmers turned on, I might give it a shot next week.

There is still the threat of snow. Helaine reminds me of the April when we paid Frank to do the Spring cleanup in our yard and plow – all in the same week.

Right now there’s no snow in our future that I can see. A few more weeks and we’ll be home free.

I love the Spring.

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