Is it spring yet? Is it spring yet? We’re through Valentine’s Day, so spring is next, right?
We can cross our fingers, hold our breath, and hope for spring, or we can look around and check the time-honored indicators:
• Ask the rodents. Punxsutawney Phil is tasked with the responsibility of predicting the onset of spring. It’s unclear who decided that a groundhog seeing his shadow would be a reliable indicator, but we continue to pin our hopes on it. But get this, the groundhog has to see his shadow to make the prediction — it’s not enough for the shadow to appear. What if Phil’s not paying attention? What if he’s scrolling on his phone or posing for the Punxsutawney paparazzi? If his shadow appears but he doesn’t see it, does it actually exist?
• Check the mail. Even in the age of online shopping, I still get multiple catalogs in the mail. This past week (still in February, mind you) I got the swimsuit issue of a major retailer. It’s thirty degrees outside — in other words, it’s freezing out. The last thing I want to walk around in is a swimsuit. Those retailers skipped over spring completely and charged straight on to summer. Maybe they’re banking on our deep winter fatigue to sell swimsuits out of season — or else they know something we don’t know. Maybe spring really is right around the corner.
• Go grocery shopping. No, you can’t buy spring at your local grocery store, but you might find signs of it there. Check out the produce section. When the nectarines show up in the store, you know winter is on its way out. The seasonal aisle is also a good place to search for signs of spring. Right now, the shelves have been stripped of Valentine’s candy, which languishes in the front at fifty percent off. The prime product placement has gone to Easter candy, plastic eggs (real ones are too expensive), and colored baskets to put them in. In other words, spring.
• Spy on your neighbors. Have they started spring cleaning yet? Are they putting out multiple bags for the trash every week? Are they digging up their garden to prepare for planting corn — just one more try? You don’t have to peer into their windows or sift through their trash, by the way. Just stalk social media. Are they posting beautiful pictures of their sparkling clean living rooms? Are they listing new stuff for sale every day? It must be spring! Be careful with this method, however. It’s a well-documented fact that observing your neighbors will cause you to try to keep up with them. Before you know it, you could be in the throes of spring cleaning too.
• Look for societal clues. Are Nenana Ice Classic tickets on sale yet? Is the deadline for guesses looming? Has the tripod been set up on the ice? Have they run the Iditarod yet? Dog mushing is a winter sport, after all. There’s no hope for spring until the last dog team crosses the finish line in Nome.
• Consult the experts. You might check in with your friendly, neighborhood meteorologist, or you could go straight to the source — the birds. Birds fly hundreds of miles to get to their spring break destinations. They have to start weeks in advance to arrive on time. They know when spring is coming! In Juneau, we look for the geese on the flats. Down south, the first robin of spring is an annual celebration. Even further south, the robins fly away at the beginning of spring. It’s all a matter of perspective.
• When all else fails, look outside. Take a really good look. Scrape away the snow to see if your crocuses are breaking through the frozen ground. Bring out a magnifying glass to check your spruce trees to see if those bright green tips are forming. Slog through the woods to see if you can spy skunk cabbage sending out its tender shoots. Peek into a bear’s den to see if she’s woken up yet — or skip that part. Do you really need to know that badly?
Is it spring yet? Nope, it’s snowing out. Someday soon, I promise.
• Peggy McKee Barnhill is a wife, mother, and author who writes cozy mysteries under the pen name “Greta McKennan.” She likes to look at the bright side of life.
