Spring, you can come now. Really.
I’m thinking spring hasn’t settled in because we’re getting payback from the light winter we had last year. And you know it’s bad when people who were born and raised here start saying things like, “Winter has never seemed this long,” or “The last time I can remember a March with this much snow on the ground, I was a kid.”
This winter has broken several records already, and the amount of snow cover we have at this month’s end is sure to set another. While signs of spring include more sunlight and warmer days with rain rather than snow, this year that was not the case. March 20 was the first official day of spring. That might have been the date on the calendar, but one couldn’t tell when walking outside. It felt more like Jan. 20. The temperature was a whopping 11 degrees below zero with a windchill that made it feel colder than it already was.
I know this weather is true to Minnesota form when it comes to what can be expected during winter. I also know that complaining gets you nowhere, but I think the winter we’ve had – and unfortunately are still having – has run its course. Enough is enough. We deserve a real spring. I think we’ve earned it this year. Maybe that’s just me.
As someone who has lived here for four years, I should be used to the winters here. But I am a greenhorn. The way I know I’ve adjusted to the cold is when I start to sound like the true Minnesotans who grew up here, who own fishhouses and don’t wear longjohns even when it’s 10 degrees outside. I wish I was that brave.
I really knew I was used to the cold when I walked outside recently and was glad to see is was 29 degrees. That 29-degree day felt like 50 degrees after a string of days with freezing temperatures.
I think the most frustrating feature of the winter is its inconsistency. One day it will be 30 degrees, and the next day it’s below zero.
When the rest of the world is boasting spring’s arrival, I wish we Minnesotans could do the same on March 20 or at least by March 22. Maybe that’s what makes this state so interesting. We never really know when spring will come so when it does it’s more appreciated. After all, by the time it comes we’ve been waiting a brutal four months for it to arrive. The upside to the lingering cold is it gives us something to look forward to. Well, here’s my formal invitation: “Dear spring, come on down! We’ve patiently waited for you and would like a break from the white stuff. Love, TaLeiza.”
