It’s spring. I know this because the calendar said so. Spring arrived at 4:58 p.m. Wednesday, March 20.
And I know this because last week, we sprang forward for daylight-saving time (more about that later.) So now I can shovel snow at 8 p.m. without turning on the porch light.
I know spring is here because I spent a couple of hours this week rounding up the Sartell High School spring sports schedules that we’ll publish in a couple of weeks. You’ll be happy to know that the baseball team kicks off its season off with a game in Little Falls.
Spring is surely here because I can look out my patio door and see that the gas grill is no longer covered with a couple of feet of snow. All except for the snow-covered deck, it would be a great day for grilling.
Two of my favorite teams, the Twins and Minnesota United, will soon return to the Twin Cities for their home openers.
In just six days, March 28, the Twins will host Cleveland at Target Field. As an incentive, the team is offering puffy vests. Luckily, there’s no game scheduled the next day, March 29. If by some odd chance, Opening Day is snowed out, the teams can play a day later. I hope the Cleveland players enjoy the day off. The long-range forecast for Opening Day calls for mostly sunny skies with a high of 47 degrees. Accuweather says the RealFeel temp will be 42.
Target Field’s grass is heated so it will be nice and green, even while the fans turn blue.
The Loons have a few more weeks for warm weather to return. After five road games, the soccer team opens its new stadium, Allianz Field in St. Paul, on April 13. The team posted a video of stocking-cap-clad players touring the new facility and snow covered much of the pitch. About half of the players grew up in warmer locations but Ethan Finlay from Marshfield, Wisconsin, and Brent Kallman and Eric Miller from Woodbury should feel right at home.
I know it’s spring because the streets are filled with potholes. You can spot them by the collection of roadside hubcaps knocked from wheels hitting the craters. I’ll bet alignment shops and tire stores love spring.
Now, more about daylight-saving time. Again this spring, there’s a push to make it permanent instead of springing ahead and falling back each year. The week after a time change has been found to lead to more car and work accidents, heart attacks and headaches, as well as decreased work productivity. It is estimated the resulting loss in productivity costs the United States economy $434 million a year.
The permanent daylight time push comes from Florida, where theme park operations are happy to welcome you at Christmas or during spring break without having to turn on park lights until later in the evening.
Of course, permanent daylight-saving time would mean the sun would not be directly overhead at noon, rendering useless your backyard sundial.
Worse, in the dead of winter, the sun wouldn’t rise until almost 9 a.m., long after most of have left for work or school.
The calendar and when the sun sets doesn’t help mark the change in seasons. I’ll really know it’s spring when I can watch sports without a winter jacket, drive on smooth roads and see green instead of mountains of white out my windows.
