1306 Spring

1306 Spring

Welcome, sweet springtime, we greet you with song. I’ll spare you some misery by saying that but not singing it.

Since seasonal stories often are written well in advance of their airing or posting, I have no idea what the weather will be like tomorrow, the first day of spring.

If it’s spring-like, wonderful.  If winter refuses to move out of the way now… it will later.

Climate and weather does not adhere to the calendar of mere men and women.  It does as it pleases.

My older relatives were fond of reminding me each year that it was snowing heavily in New York on my birthday in April... 70-something years ago. Some nerve.

But the turn of seasons gives us a chance to express gratitude for what surely will be more temperate days and nights for awhile.

Unless you live on a floodplain, chances are you have no legitimate complaint about this season.  And chances are you have been looking forward to March 20th ever since you realized in February that this region’s answer to snow removal is… July.

Yes, it was a miserable winter, especially when compared with those of the past few years.

Brutally cold. More snow than anyone south of Buffalo or Minneapolis could want or expect.

A note to climate change deniers: the earth’s temperature continues to rise.  And the folks at NOAA who collect the statistics told the Washington Post that this past January… even with the freak subzero days and Polar Vortex was the warmest since 2007 and the fourth warmest since they began keeping track in 1880.

Even with late snowfall or spring freeze, there’s something more benign about this season than any other.

The crocuses and daffodils will soon be springing. Young birds will be learning to fly and leaving little presents on your sidewalk.  New rodents will soon be digging up your garden.

You’ll soon be greeting and being greeted by neighbors you haven’t seen since November, and some of them will borrow your lawnmower and -- maybe -- return your snow shovel.

You’ll think about spring cleaning, and maybe even do some.

Your Hoveround will not skid or bog down in snowdrifts.

There will be a new spring in your step.

At any rate, spring will be with us for a quarter of a year.  And that gives us three months to prepare for complaining about how hot it is in summer.

Shrapnel (NYC Tourism Edition):

--Various news agencies are reporting that New York City Night Court has become a tourist attraction.  “Gritty entertainment,” one of them says.  Not surprising… because it’s both interesting and costs a lot less than a Broadway show or even the “suggested contribution” to get into many of the city’s museums.

--Tickets for the Empire State Building Observatory range between $21 and $27.  The view from Google Earth is almost as good, especially if you look at it on a giant TV screen. And there are no long waits for that.

--A 48 hour pass for the hop-on-hop-off bus tour is $59. Interesting as that can be, it’s also pretty expensive.  Especially if you’re a family of six from, say, Prescott, Arizona.

I’m Wes Richards.  My opinions are my own but you’re welcome to them. ®

Please address comments to wesrichards@gmail.com

© WJR 2014