Spring!

This weekend it broke through: Spring! The air felt just a bit warmer. The skies stayed lighter later. The snow banks receded further, turning frozen streams into gushing rivers. And of course the mud got sloppier and deeper. Spring in New England is really in a league of its own, known fondly as "Mud Season," it is as quirky as the locals who hate/love it so much.

Spring in New England is:

1) Dirt roads that turn to mud-soup
2) roads pocked with pot holes that seem to crop up in front of the car as you drive
3) rain that falls for days on end
4) snow banks that are a blackish hue, hardly recognizable as snow and are comprised mostly of sand
5) maple trees tapped for sap
6) baseball tryouts in the school gymnasium ('cause the field is still covered with snow)
7) college students "sunning" themselves on a muddy lawn
8) people in shorts and sandals because 40 degrees feels warm after a long winter of bone-chilling cold
9) what seems to be a sudden increase in population, as people decided to come out of their homes to feel the long absent sun on their faces
10) pancake house parking lots packed with people eager for their first taste of this years Maple Syrup


If you've never experienced Spring in New England you should. While it's no week in the Caribbean, the quirky local flavor is sure to be memorable.