When do YOU know Spring is almost here?!

[Bertha Venation]

Oh. My. God. We have irises coming up in the front yard -- fruit of Mrs. V.'s hard labor last year. Last night I put food out for the strays, and saw Orion taking his late winter header into the western horizon. Although it's just 51F at 9:25, I have the office window open because I am so feverish -- and the birds are going mad with anticipation and delight. I've heard blue jays, grackles, doves, cardinals, little birds that go "chipchipchipchip," and woodpeckers -- singing and drilling. Harry & Toby are fighting a war of passive-aggression over the windowsill. Toby's the current victor.

Oh -- and of course, those four little words from about ten days ago: pitchers and catchers report!

What sets your nerves to buzzing? How do you know spring is almost here?

[VermontDem2004]

1. The NFL Free Agency Period coming up

That usually lets me know every year the spring is around the corner. Call me a football fanatic.

[matcom]

2. fired up the smoker for the first time yesterday

mmmmmmmmmm those RIBS were GREAT!

not getting TOO excited though as here in N.E., this is often a false hope this time of year.

*fingers crossed* though

[burythehatchet]

3. Aah yes

Growing up in New Rochelle NY, my most vivid cue of spring arriving is driving through my neighborhood with the window rolled down. It was still chilly. There was still plenty of that amalgamation of snow/ice/slugde crud, but it was melting.

[Zech Marquis]

4. 2 words

spring training :evilgrin:

[madrchsod]

5. when the dog

crap melts away in the backyard.....

[VermontDem2004]

6. uhhhh

that is disgusting. :)

[NicoleM]

7. When I can walk

from the parking lot to the store without a coat on. Usually that happens when the temp is in the high 30s, which counts as almost-spring here in Minnesota. :)

[fishnfla]

8. Bike week

the rumble of thousands of harleys lets me know. That and Canadian spring breakers.

[GreenPartyVoter]

9. I know cause the calender says APRIL *sigh*

Wish I could fast forward a month. I miss my garden!

[ConcernedCanuk]

10. When halter-topped roller-bladers hit the Lake shore Drive

.
.
.

:evilgrin:

[NJCher]

11. shredded fingers

Don't know why but as the seasons change, the skin around my nails gets dry and tears. Also, allergies start up.


Cher

[Bronco69]

12. Tell me more about this "Pitchers and Catchers Report"

Or is that a hetero sports thing? :-)

[Bertha Venation]

16. Oh, you...

Typical. ;)

[TheWhitneyBrown]

13. When Weeping Willows turn Yellow

You can see them from hundreds of yards away, they stand out like a mustard stain on white shirt. Means spring is nigh.

[Bertha Venation]

sadly, a huge old weeping willow in my neighborhood

died last year. It went down in a huge thunderstorm in August. Very, very sad. :cry:

[TheWhitneyBrown]

18. They don't live long...

The Willow is among the shortest-lived of all trees. 35 years or so is a good long time for a Willow. A maple might live 200 years, a white Oak for 700 or even a thousand. Each species has its own life-span, and survival strategy.
Willows, on the other hand, are very fast growing. They have an interesting modus operandi.
If you watch them grow in Nature, you see their strategy is to quickly grow out from the shore over the open water, unbalanced, leaning more and more each year until a spring flood undercuts the bank, washes the whole tree down-stream, where it snags on a sand bank and then every branch turns into a new tree.
To facilitate this plan, every twig on the tree produces a hormone that encourages root growth. The hormone is called Salicylic Acid. (from the latin for the Willow family, Salix).
Incidentally this was the original source of Aspirin. (Aceto-salicylic Acid). This is why people put Aspirin in Christmas tree water!
Just a little more trivia than you might need.
So, cut a branch (it can be pretty big, up to 10 feet or so) off the old willow tree, stick it in the ground, keep it wet for a few months, and in a very few years you'll have a 30-40 foot new willow there.

[Bertha Venation]

19. that's fascinating!

It explains why the tree fell over. Most of its roots got pulled up in the process, and it was clear they weren't very deep and were spread out along the ground.

Thanks for the amazing info, Whit.

[BiggJawn]

14. When i go outside at night and hear "reep! reep! reep!"

and that trilling noise they make.
"They", I am assuming, are little frogs somewhere near me.
Should be happening in another coupla weeks. Dafoils are starting to come up, and I'm doing the annual tuck-pointing thing on the foundation today...(how I hate that! I always get my ass chewed for "stomping" on some plants...)

[morningglory]

15. They say down here, when the pecans bud out, that is it.

They never get frozen back. The figs, peaches, etc, can bud too early and get frozen back.

[oneighty]

17. When she dances

on the South Wind sweet and warm with May while a wreath of Hawthorn decks her hair!

Then and only then is it spring time on the icy shores of Lake Erie. It is good though, good for the grape farmers.

180

[Ernesto]

20. I launched my boat yesterday!

After 4 months out of the water for maintenance & up grades!... Look out stripers, I'm back!... It's tough being retired, but I think I can handle it... PS: it pays to work UNION.

[IconoclastIlene]

21. Daffodils and Robins..

bulbs coming up and birds return....the surest sign.

[av8rdave]

22. when * comes out and is scared of his shadow?

n/t

[GOPisEvil]

23. SPRING TRAINING!

:bounce:

Go Cardinals! :thumbsup:

[SiobhanClancy]

25. Exactly!

Spring arrives for me the day that pitchers and catchers report.

Go SOX:)

[woofless]

28. I'll second that. GO CARDS!

[Jade Fox]

24. I heard one lone bird going chipchipchip last week....

when I was getting ready for work and I knew

[catmandu57]

26. When we get that heavy wet gloppy snow

that is more frozen water than snow, it falls from the trees, power lines, everything, real slushy stuff. It hangs atound for only a couple of days, then the temp runs up into the sixties and the earth explodes with color and that earthy smell. That's what I look for every year.

[MisterP]

27. the heatwaves causing deep puddles to leap into the air as steam

in SoCal, "winter" is actually February.

[RebelOne]

29. I don't want spring, I don't want spring.

Cause it only leads into hot, hot summer. I hate summer. Give me cold weather anytime. I don't complain about the cold, but boy, do I bitch in the summer about the heat.

[jonnyblitz]

30. the sun sets later in the day. n/t

[mvd]

31. When the forecasts consistently show

50s and 60s. I've also seen a couple flies and a caterpillar, so could be an early spring.

[shanti]

32. when you can smell the bbq's

being fired up...mmmmmmm:-)

[Missy Vixen]

33. Cherry trees blossoming

in Seattle, crocuses coming up in our neighbor's yards.

Spring can't come too soon for us. In the meantime, we were thrilled to see a bit of the Seattle Mariners' spring training on the news last night!

Julie