Spring Fever

It’s the first day of spring and I have a screaming case of Spring Fever. I moved into my home in December and have my new flowerbeds planned. Have had them planned since November, to be honest. I keep getting ads from local greenhouses and can hardly wait to start planting.

Yes, I know I live in Wisconsin, and have done so all my life. And I’m no longer young, not even close. In all that time, I know how spring in Wisconsin can be. I should know better, and I do, intellectually. Physically, emotionally, not a chance. I feel cheated by the multiple fake springs.

It all started with a 60-degree day six or seven weeks ago. Cocktails on my covered porch with the sun beaming on my face made it feel like spring was here. I ordered new patio furniture that evening, dreaming of the sun-soaked days that were surely here.

The next day, it was 40. And windy. And threatening rain. Ah, “Spring’s like that,” I told myself.

The next day, it snowed. And the next. I shoveled, no easy thing on my gravel driveway. It won’t be paved until spring. I kept telling myself that this could be the last time I need to shovel this winter. That naïve hope was about all that got me through the task.

Two days later, on a day where the high was in the teens, my patio furniture was delivered in three huge, heavy boxes. Left in a snowbank on the side of my driveway. Thanks a heap, FedEx. Those boxes sat in the corner of my guest bedroom for two weeks, their boxes moldering where they had sat in the snow bank.

A neighbor of mine asked me during that snowy stretch to help her plan her new flowerbeds. She, also, couldn’t wait for spring to arrive. We set a day to meet a couple of days later. On the set day, the sun was shining and the temperatures were again in the 60s. We walked around her yard, dreaming of the beauty we could create with flowers, trees, and shrubs. I agreed to sketch out some ideas for her and to suggest plants that could withstand the healthy rabbit and deer population thriving in our neighborhood. We agreed to meet again two days later. I went home and assembled my new patio furniture that afternoon, dreaming the whole time of the warm sun on my face and pitchers of lemonade. After I got it assembled, I tested it out, sipping a glass of wine.

The next two days brought rain, freezing rain, and snow. That’s alright, though. It gave me time to research and sketch and dream of spring planting. At the end of the second day, I walked over to her house in brisk winds and driving snow to share my ideas. Rude, Wisconsin Weather, just rude. She liked my suggestions and added some great ideas of her own. Her landscaping will be beautiful if our dreams and plans pan out.

The next several days were an unending reminder that winter was not done with us just yet. Snow, freezing rain, winds topping off at 60 mph, two more rounds of shoveling. My new patio furniture was all blown over and resting in a heap against my house, taunting me.

Yesterday, temperatures reached the 50s despite it being cloudy all day. Today, it’s due to reach 60 and the sun is shining. It feels and smells like spring.

Do I trust it? No. I can dream though.